« ' 



• ? . <&. 






. - :: ' " : ' : - ' 



$ 



'<'<■■ 9 



SUV* *. «* 



*& 



; 0» 
... %' 





V" n 


* * # 






M 






"tf\. 






% 






Q 


',"?-? 


■ 


'V".. 




■ ,.- 1 






jl* ' .,.,r-7-c/ , '-'V 















j 


















% 






T>r>W< ■■ ? ':"-'-' - 



. ■ ; ' - 
■ 
















































' v „•$> 












. 









■ 5 















W ■ 






Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/touraroundworldb01mcca 



A TOUR 

Around the World 

By General Grant. 



BEING 



i 



THROUGH 



Great Britain, Ireland, Belgium, the German Empire, Switzerland, 
France, Egypt, the Holy Land, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Hol- 
land, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Austria, 
Spain, Portugal, India, Siam, China, Japan, etc. 

CONTAINING 

Accurate Descriptions of the Cities and Countries Visited by General Grant, the 

Manners and Customs of the People, Remarkable Places and Objects of 

Interest, together with a Full Account of the Extraordinary 

Honors Paid to General Grant by the Sovereigns 

and People of the Old World. 

EDITED AND COMPILED FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC SOURCES 

BY 

JAMES D. McCABE. 

Author of "The Pictorial History of the World," " Pathways of the Holy Land," 
" Paris by Sunlight and Gaslight," etc., etc. 

EMBELLISHED WITH NEARLY 200 FINE HISTORICAL ENGRAVINGS AND PORTRAITS. 

Issued by subscription only, and not for sale in the book stores. Residents of any State desiring a copy should 
address the Publishers, and an Agent will call upon them. See page 811. 



PUBLISHED BY 

THE NATIONAL PUBLISHING CO., 

Philadelphia, Pa., Chicago, III., St. Louis, Mo., 
and Atlanta, Ga. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by 

J. R. JONES, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



M u 



PREFACE. 



HE journey of General Grant around the world is one of 
the most important events of Modern History. There 
is no living man whose career can be compared with that of 
General Grant ; no soldier, since Napoleon I., has accomplished 
such great results. It is generally admitted that the victories of 
General Grant saved the great American Republic, and it is not 
surprising that all the world has done homage to the greatest 
military chieftain of the age. The splendor of General Grant's 
reception in the many countries through which he travelled was 
owing to his great fame as a soldier. 

His journey was the most remarkable ever made by any 
human being. Wherever he went he was received by people 
and sovereigns with royal honors, and was in all respects the 
most honored traveller that ever accomplished the journey 
around the world. The distinguished American ex-President, 
though travelling as a simple citizen of the United States, has 
made the most remarkable journey in all recorded history, see- 
ing more, and being more honored and admitted to closer confi- 
dence, by the rulers of mankind, than any individual who ever 
undertook to seek instruction or recreation by extensive travels 
through foreign lands. The whole journey was like a romance, 
and the countries through which General Grant travelled exerted 

(21) 



2 2 PREFACE. 

themselves to show him all they have worth seeing. Who of 
crowned monarchs could have made the circuit of civilization 
with so many distinguished marks of honor ? Who of contem- 
porary military men would have excited so much interest in all 
quarters of the globe ? 

During the progress of his journey, the movements of Gen- 
eral Grant were reported regularly in the various newspapers 
of the United States, and were followed closely by his fellow- 
citizens. So great was this popular interest that one of the 
leading journals of the country sent its most able correspondent 
to travel with him, and report the record of his daily life abroad. 
These reports, however, coming at intervals of greater or less 
extent, were naturally disconnected, and there is a universal and 
recognized demand for a connected and continuous narrative of 
this great journey, which shall give in a more extended form 
than was possible in newspaper correspondence, an account of 
General Grant's travels, and such information concerning the 
places he visited and the persons he met, as may be necessary 
to a proper understanding of the story. Such a work is offered 
to the public in the present volume, in which the movements of 
General Grant are related day by day from the time he left 
Philadelphia for Liverpool until his arrival at San Francisco. 

The author has drawn from every source of information open 
to him. Being personally familiar with a portion of the route 
pursued by General Grant, he has drawn upon his own experi- 
ence and impressions in describing it. He ha3 endeavored to 
include everything of interest or instruction to the reader in his 
narrative, while, at the same time, he has sought to avoid what 
was unnecessary or fatiguing. 

The latter part of the work consists mainly of the letters 
written to The New York Herald by Mr. John Russell Young, 



PREFACE. 2 r 

who accompanied General Grant during portions of his travels, 
and was his constant companion during the Eastern tour. These 
letters are given as they appeared in the columns of The Herald, 
with the exception that parts of them have been omitted as 
possessing no special interest to the general reader. Wherever 
they are used due credit is given to Mr. Young and The Herald. 
The book -is simply what it professes to be — a narrative of 
General Grant's travels in foreign lands. It has no political 
significance. General Grant's journey possesses a deep interest 
to his countrymen of all parties. It would be singular indeed 
if his own countrymen failed to appreciate the unprecedented 
attentions and courtesies which he received in every part of the 
world to which the light of Christian or Mohammedan or heathen 
civilization has penetrated. It is in his person and in the honors 
bestowed upon him that our country and its great destiny have 
first been adequately recognized by the widely distributed 
branches of the human family. His own countrymen may 
feel a justifiable pride in a career which has attracted such 
universal homage, and the hearty welcome given him by the 
people of the Pacific coast upon his return to his own land, 
makes it apparent that the nation does not undervalue the 
compliment which so many foreign countries have paid to our 
Republic in the person of one of its most illustrious citizens. 

Philadelphia, November 12, 1879. 



Contents 



CHAPTER I. 

THE VOYAGE TO ENGLAND. 

Determination of General Grant to visit Europe — Preparations for the Journey — Arrival in 
Philadelphia — Reception there — The American Steamship Line — The "Indiana" — De- 
parture from Philadelphia — Trip down the Delaware — The Parting — Going to Sea — The 
Outward Voyage — Arrival at Queenstown — Reception at Liverpool — Speech of the Mayor 
— Description of Liverpool — General Grant visits the Docks — Lunch at the Town Hall — 
Visit to Manchester — An English Welcome — Reception at the Royal Exchange — The 
Address — Reception at Leicester and Bedford — Arrival in London 33 

CHAPTER II. 

GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 

Hospitalities Tendered General Grant by Distinguished Englishmen — Attends the Epsom 
Races — Meets the Prince of Wales — Dines with the Duke of Wellington — Attends Church 
at Westminster Abbey — The Noted Places of London — Size and Population of the Me- 
tropolis — The City — Modern London — A Run Through the City — Westminster Abbey — 
Dinner at the American Embassy — Letter of General Grant to Mr. George W. Childs — 
His Impressions of his Reception — Presented at Court — Visit to Bath — Return to London 
— Seeing the Sights — The Thames Embankment — Cleopatra's Needle — The Tower of 
London — The Houses of Parliament — Opening Parliament — St. Paul's — The Bank of 
England — The Royal Exchange — The Post-Office — The British Museum — The Mansion 
House — The Lord Mayor — The National Gallery — The Docks — The Underground Rail- 
way — Hyde Park — Kensington Gardens — St. James's Park — Buckingham Palace — St. 
James's Palace — General Grant visits Southampton — Visit to the Isle of Wight — Return 
to London — Guildhall — General Grant presented with the Freedom of the City — Dinner 
at the Crystal Palace — Dinner with the Marquis of Lome and the Princess Louise — 
Breakfast with Mr. Smalley — Dinner with the Prince of Wales — Marlborough House — 
Visit to the Opera — Dinner at Trinity House — General Grant visits Earl Russell — Invited 
to visit the Queen — Arrival at Windsor Castle — The State Dinner — Visit to Liverpool — 
The Press Dinner at London — Address from the Workingmen — The Fourth of July 
Celebration 47 

CHAPTER III. 
GENERAL GRANT'S FIRST VISIT TO THE CONTINENT. 

Departure from London — Arrival at Ostend — Visit to Ghent — Brussels — Description of the 
City — King Leopold visits General Grant — Dinner with the King of the Belgians — 

(25) 



2 6 CONTENTS. 

General Grant at Cologne — Up the Rhine — Coblentz — Weisbaden — Visit to Frankfort — 
At Homburg— Grant at Heidelberg — Baden and the Black Forest — The Journey to 
Switzerland — Lucerne — The Lake of the Four Cantons — At Interlaken — Visit to Berne — 
Reception by the President of the Swiss Republic — Grant at Geneva — Lake Leman — 
The City of Geneva — General Grant Lays the Corner-Stone of a Church — En Route to 
Mont Blanc — Chamounix — Mont Blanc — General Grant sets out for Italy — Over the 
Alps — Martigny — The Simpion Pass — General Grant in Italy — Logo Maggiore — Pallanza 
— The Lake of Como — Beilagio — Chiavenna — The Spliigen Pass — Via Mala — In Swit- 
zerland again — Ragatz — The Baths of Pi'affers — The Hot Springs — Zurich — The Lake and 
City — Visit to Alsace and Lorraine — Strasbourg — The Cathedral — The Astronomical 
Clock — Metz — General Grant at Antwerp — His Return to England 101 

CHAPTER IV. 

GENERAL GRANT VISITS COTLAND AND THE MIDLAND COUNTIES OF 

ENGLAND. 

General Grant Visits Edinburgh — Is the Guest of the Lord Provost — Presented with the 
Freedom of the City — Description of Edinburgh — The Castle — Holyrood Palace — St. 
Giles' — The Streets of Edinburgh — Visit to Dundee — Melrose Abbey — Abbotsford — 
Visit to Dunrobin Castle — The Duke of Sutherland — Visit to Thurso Castle — At Inver- 
ness — Elgin — Visit to Glasgow — Presented with the Freedom of the City — Glasgow — 
Visit to Ayr — Memories of Burns — Loch Lomond — Inverary — Visit to the Duke of 
Argyle — General Grant Returns to England — Visit to Newcastle-on-Tyne — A Flattering 
Reception — A Trip Down the Tyne — Grand Popular Demonstration in Honor of Gen- 
eral Grant — An Outpouring of the People — The Workingmen's Address — Reply of Gen- 
eral Grant — Visit to Sunderland — Grant Lays another Corner-Stone — Arrival at Sheffield 
— Reception by the City Authorities — The Manufactories — Visit to Stratford-on-Avon — 
Shakespeare's Home — At Leamington — Kenilworth — Warwick Castle — A Rest at South- 
ampton — General Grant Visits Birmingham — Reception by the Municipal Authorities — 
Visits to the Manufactories of Birmingham — General Grant at Brighton — The English 
Paris— A Beautiful City 1 58 

CHAPTER V. 

GENERAL GRANT'S VISIT TO PARIS. 

Departure from London — The Channel Passage — Trip to Paris — Arrival in that City — Early- 
History of Paris — Situation of the City — Municipal Government — Some Statistics — The 
Boulevards — The Streets — Paris by Gaslight — A Brilliant Sight — Place de la Concorde — 
The Arch of Triumph — Place du Carrousel — Portes St. Denis and St. Martin — The 
Champs Elysees — The Bois de Boulogne — The Seine — Along the River — The Bridges — 
The Steamboat-Omnibus— The Tuileries— The Hotel de Ville— The Island— Old Paris 
— The Palace of Justice — The Conciergerie — The Holy Chapel — Notre Dame — The Ex- 
terior — The Interior — The Louvre — Description of the Palace — The Picture Galleries — 
The Museums— The Luxembourg Palace— The Palais Royal— The Shops— The Gardens 
—The Bourse— The Hotel des Invalides— Tomb of Napoleon I.— General Grant Visits 
Marshal MacMahon— The ElysSe— Reception by Minister Noyes— Grant at the Opera- 
Meets Gambetta— Dines with the French President— Dinner at the Grand Hotel— Mrs. 
Mackey's Party— Grant Meets the Count of Paris— The Herald Office— Versailles— The 
Old Palace— Memories of the Past— General Grant and Party Leave Paris— At Lyons- 
Grant Visits Marseilles— At Nice— Arrival of the "Vandalia" at Villefranche— General 
Grant and his Party Embark for the Mediterranean Voyage 190 



CONTENTS. 27 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE MEDITERRANEAN VOYAGE. 

Arrival of the " Vandalia " at Naples — The City — Its Situation — The Neapolitans — Visit 
Of the Authorities to General Grant — An Excursion to Mount Vesuvius — Italian Beggars 
— Eruptions of Mount Vesuvius — The Ascent of the Mountain — View of the Bay — The 
Crater — Return to the Ship — General Grant Visits Pompeii — The Guide — Ancient Pom- 
peii — Eruption of Vesuvius and Destruction of the City — Excavation of Pompeii — The 
Ruins — A Pompeiian Villa — Ancient Art — The Forum — The Theatres — The House of 
the Tragic Poet — An Official Reception at Naples — The " Vandalia " sails for Sicily — 
Arrival at Palermo — The City — A Christmas Dinner — General Grant's Avi-rsion to Dis- 
play — Departure from Palermo — The Straits of Messina — Mount Etna — A. rival at Malta 
— La Valetta — Visit of the Duke of Edinburgh — Hospitalities at Malta — Visits to the 
Governor and the Duke of Edinburgh— Departure from Malta — Life at Sea 251 

CHAPTER VII. 

EGYPT AND THE NILE. 

The Coast of Egypt — The Harbor of Alexandria — The City — Modern Alexandria — Arrival 
of the "Vandalia" at Alexandria — A Royal Welcome to General Grant — Official Visits 
— Photographs — Leaving the "Vandalia" — Arrival at Cairo — General Grant the Guest 
01 the Khedive — The Palace Kassr-el-Noussa — Visit to the Khedive — Hospitalities in 
Cairo — Description of Cairo — The Mosques — The Bazaars — General Grant Visits the 
Pyramids — The Khedive Places a Government Steamer at General Grant's disposal for 
the Nile Voyage — The Departure — Up the Nile — The Party on Board — Brugsrh-Bey — 
The Boat— The Crew— Life on the Nile— The Desert— The Arabs— Siout— A Hearty 
Welcome — The Town — An Egyptian Dinner — Arrival at Girgel — Meeting with Friends — 
Visit to Abydos — A Donkey Ride — Arab Boys — The Oldest City in the World — An Arab 
Host — General Grant at Thebes — The City of Rameses — The Statues of Memnon — 
Luxor — The Great Temple — Medeenet Aboo — Dinner with the Consul — Karnak — The 
Temple — The Sacred Lake — Assouan — Nubia — Shopping at Assouan — Visit to Philse — 
The Voyage down the Nile — Visit to Memphis — The Serapeum — Return to Cairo— De- 
parture for Port Said — On Board the " Vandalia " Again 286 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE HOLY LAND, TURKEY AND GREECE. 

Arrival of the "Vandalia" at Jaffa — The Landing — Jaffa — The Journey — The Journey to 
Jerusalem — Reception at Jerusalem — A Surprise to General Grant — His Personal Wishes 
Concerning Receptions — Life in Jerusalem — The Modern City — The Streets — The Jews 
— The Government — The Haram-esh-Sherif — The Ancient Temple — The Dome of the 
Rock — The Mosque of El-Aksa — The Church of the Holy Sepulchre — The Tomb of 
our Lord — Via Dolorosa — The Mount of Olives — Gethsemane — Visit to Bethlehem — 
Grotto of the Nativity — The Journey to Damascus — Northern Palestine — Nazareth — 
Damascus — Journey to Beyrout — Departure for Constantinople — Arrival in the Turkish 
Capital — Reception by the Sultan — Description of the City of Constantinople — General 
Grant's Arabian Horses — Departure for Greece — Arrival at Athens — Honors by the King 
and People — Modern Athens — Illumination of the Acropolis — Departure from Athens — 
Corinth — Syracuse — Arrival of the "Vandalia" at Naples — End of the Mediterranean 
Voyage 352 



2 g CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IX. 

ITALY, FRANCE, HOLLAND. 

Arrival of General Grant at Rome — Call of Cardinal McCloskey — Interview with the Pope — 
A Welcome from King Humbert — General Grant Visits the King — King Humbert Enter- 
tains General Grant at Dinner — Visit to Florence — The Uffizi Gallery — The Cathedral — 
Easter Services — General Grant at Venice — Description of the City — St. Mark's Square 

The Cathedral — Gondolas and Gondolier — General Grant Visits Milan — Description 

of the City — The Cathedral of Milan — Visit to Genoa — General Grant Returns to Paris 

The International Exhibition — General Grant's Visit to the Exhibition — Departure for 

Holland — Arrival of General Grant at the Hague — Enthusiastic Reception — Royal At- 
tentions — Grant at Rotterdam — A State Dinner — Visit to Amsterdam — The Commer- 
cial Metropolis of Holland — Banquet to General Grant — The North Sea Canal — Visit to 
Broek — The Cleanest Town in the World — General Grant Leaves for Germany 402 

CHAPTER X. 
PRUSSIA, DENMARK, NORWAY, AND SWEDEN. 

Arrival of General Grant at Berlin — The Prussian Capital — Unter den Linden — Statue of 
Frederick the Great — The Museum — The University — Excursion to Potsdam — The 
European Congress — Visit to Prince Bismarck — A Memorable Interview — A Review — 
Lunch with the Crown Prince — General Grant dines with Prince Bismarck — A Quiet 
Chat — Dinner at the American Legation — Departure of General Grant from Berlin 
— Arrival at Hamburg — Cordial Reception — Attentions by the Municipal Authorities — 
The Fourth of July — Arrival of General Grant at Copenhagen — Departure for Norway — 
Reception at Gottenburg — Arrival at Christiana — General Grant's Interview with the 
King of Norway and Sweden — Visit to Stockholm — The Venice of the North 422 

CHAPTER XI. 
RUSSIA AND AUSTRIA. 

The Baltic Voyage — Arrival at Cronstadt — General Grant Saluted by the Russian Forts — 
Welcome to Cronstadt — Arrival of General Gram, at St. Petersburg — A Welcome from 
the Czar — General Grant's Interview with the Czar — Prince Gortschakoff — Visit to Peter- 
hof and Cronstadt — Interview with the Czarewitch — Description of St. Petersburg — 
General Grant Visits Moscow — The Ancient City — The Kremlin — Departure for War- 
saw — Arrival of General Grant at Vienna — Count Andrassy Calls upon General Grant — 
Interview with the Emperor — General and Mrs. Grant Dine with the Emperor and Em- 
press — The City of Vienna — Visit to Munich — Entertainment at Zurich — Return of Gen- 
eral Grant to Paris 443 

CHAPTER XII. 
SPAIN, PORTUGAL, IRELAND. 

Departure of General Grant for Southern France — A Message from the King of Spain — A 
Change of Plans — Departure for Spain — Biarritz — Irun — Interview with Castelar — Arri- 
val at Viltoria — General Grant's Interview with the King of Spain — A Pleasant Meeting 
— The Boy- King — A Review — Arrival at Madrid — Life in Madrid — Visit to the Escurial 
— General Grant Witnesses the Attempted Assassination of King Alfonso — Visit to Lisbon 
— Cordial Reception by the King of Portugal — General Grant and the King at the 
Opera — General Grant Dines with the King's Father — Visit to Cintra — General Grant 
Returns to Spain — Visit to Cordova — The Mosque — General Grant at Seville — Visit to 




ABDUL HAMID, SULTAN OF TURKEY 



CONTENTS. 



29 



the Duke of Montpensier — General Grant at Cadiz — A Spanish City — The Angelus Bells 
— A Visit to Gibraltar — Lord Napier Entertains General Grant — Return to Spain — The 
Journey to Paris — General Grant in London — Departure for Ireland — Reception at Dub- 
lin — Presented with the Freedom of the City — Visit to Londonderry — Enthusiastic Re- 
ception — Visit to Belfast — A Cordial Greeting — General Grant Returns to England — 
Grant in Paris — Preparations for the Indian Tour 453 

CHAPTER XIII. 
INDIA. 

A Change of Plans — The " Richmond " Behind Time — General Grant Embarks at Mar- 
seilles for India — The Voyage to Alexandria — Railroad Ride to Suez — The"Venetia" 
— On the Red Sea — General Grant and his Party — Life on the Indian Steamer — Killing 
Time — Arrival at Aden — News from Europe— In the Indian Ocean — Arrival at Bombay 
— General Grant's Welcome to India — Malabar Point — The Government House — General 
Grant at Bombay — Life in India — Hospitalities to General Grant at Bombay — The Sacred 
Caves of Elephanta — State Dinner to General Grant — General Grant Leaves Bombay — 
Visit to Allahabad — Arrival at Agra — The Fort — Visit to the Taj-Mahal — The Most 
Beautiful Building in the World — Hospitalities to General Grant at Agra — Visit to Jey- 
pore — The Maharajah Entertains General Grant — The Ride to Amber — The Ancient 
Capital — An Elephant Ride — Jeypore — Reception by the Maharajah — A Nautch Dance 
— Departure from Jeypore — Visit to the Maharajah of Bhurtpoor — A Native Despot — 
General Grant Returns to Agra 493 

CHAPTER XIV. 
INDIA CONCLUDED. 

Arrival of General Grant at Delhi — Description of Delhi — The Ruins — Beggars — The Mo- 
gul Kingdom — The Palace — The Peacock Throne — Tomb of an Indian Princess — Gen- 
eral Grant goes to Lucknow — A Pleasant Host — The Residency — The Kaiser Bagh — 
Memories of the Defence of Lucknow — General Grant at Benares — The Sacred City of 
the Hindoos — A Severe Journey — Reception at Benares — The Holy Place — A City of 
Priests — The Temples — Tlv Religion of Brahma — Power of the Brahmins — The Splen- 
dors of Benares — Departure of General Grant from Benares — Arrival at Calcutta — -Re- 
ception by the Authorities — General Grant the Guest of the Viceroy of India — Th.- Fort 
— The City of Calcutta — Convocation of the University — Reception of General Grant by 
the Viceroy — Excursion to Lord Lytton's Country Seat — Barrackpore Park — Lord Lytton 
Entertains General Grant at a State Dinner — The Guests — Lord Lytton — His Adminis- 
tration 554 

CHAPTEI XV. 
BURMAH AND SIAM. 

Departure of General Grant from India — Voyage to Rangoon — The " Simla " — Arrival of 
General Grant at Rangoon — Reception by the Authorities — The Pagoda — General Grant 
eaves Rangoon — Voyage down the Straits of Malacca — Penang — Singapore — An Inviia- 
tion from the King of Siam — News from the " Richmond " — General Grant sails for 
Bangkok — The Gulf of Siam — Arrival of General Grant at Bangkok — Almost an Acci- 
dent — The Venice of the East — Reception of General Grant by the Celestial Prince — A 
Visit to the Regent — A Pleasant Interview — The Siamese Government — The Second 
King — General Grant Calls upon the King of Siam — The King Returns General Grant's 
Visit — An Important Interview — The King Entertains General Grant at a State Dinner. . 592 



30 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

CHINA. 

Departure of General Grant from Siam— Arrival at Singapore— No News from the " Rich- 
mond "—General Grant Embarks on the " Irrawaddy " for Hong Kong— Saigon— Arri- 
val at Hong Kong— The "Ashuelot " — Reception of General Grant at Hong Kong 

General Grant Sails in the "Ashuelot" for Canton — Arrival at Canton — Reception of 

General Grant by the Chinese Authorities — A Visit to the Viceroy — A State Procession — 
A Chinese Display — Reception by the Viceroy — A Chinese Tea-Party — Chopsticks — The 
Viceroy's Visit to General Grant — Oriental Pomp — A Chinese State Dinner — General 
Grant Leaves Canton — Macao — Memories of Camoens — General Grant returns to Hong 
Koncr The Voyage to Shanghai — Swatow — Amoy — Arrival of General Grant at Shang- 
hai A Magnificent Reception — General Grant Arrives at Tientsin — A Grand Reception 

The Viceroy at Tientsin — Welcomes General Grant — The Most Powerful Subject of 

the Chinese Empire — Courtesies to General Grant — The Voyage up the Peiho — Arrival 
of General Grant at Pekin — Honors to General Grant in Pekin — Interview with the 
Prince Regent Kung — A Remarkable Man — China Requests General Grant to Mediate 
Between Herself and Japan — An Important Interview — General Grant Returns to Tient- 
sin Memorable Interview with the Viceroy — A Chinese Statesman — A Diplomatic Din- 
ner Arrival of the "Richmond" — General Grant Leaves Tientsin — The Viceroy's 

Farewell — Visit to the Great Wall of China — The " Richmond " at Cheefoo — The 
Midnight Salute — Departure from China 629 

CHAPTER XVII. 

JAPAN. 

Arrival of General Grant at Nagasaki — A Royal Reception — A Welcome from the Em- 
peror — Prince Dati — Landing at Nagasaki — The Cholera — Dinner to General Grant by 
the Governor — General Grant Entertained by the Merchants — An Old-Fashioned Japan- 
ese Feast — Japanese Dishes and Customs — An Ancient Dance — General Grant Sails for 
Yokohama — Arrival at that Port — The Landing at Yokohama — A Magnificent Spectacle 
— Reception by the Authorities — The Journey to Tokio — Reception of General Grant at 
the Japanese Capital — General Grant's Visit to the Emperor of Japan — The Palace — The 
Emperor and Empress — A Cordial Reception — The Fourth of July in Japan — The Em- 
peror Holds a Review of the Japanese Army in Honor of General Grant, and Entertains 
him at Breakfast — General Grant's Home at Tokio — The Palace of Euriokwan — Grant 
the Guest of Japan — A Japanese Paradise — Glimpses of Japanese Life — Japanese Hospi- 
tality — Mrs. Grant and the Empress — The Emperor's Visit to General Grant — Grant's 
Advice to the Emperor — The Chinese Question — Excursions to Nikko and Kamakara — 
General Grant Prepares to Leave Japan — Last Days in the Island Empire — General 
Grant Dines With the Prime Minister — An Entertainment at Mr. Yoshida's — A Visit to 
Prince Dati — General Grant Takes Leave of the Emperor — Parting Courtesies to Gen- 
eral Grant 720 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE VOYAGE HOME. 

General Grant Engages Passage for San Francisco on the " City of Tokio " — Departure 
from Tokio — Embarkation at Yokohama — Parting with Friends — A Royal Farewell — 



CONTENTS. 



31 



The Last Salute — The Voyage Across the Pacific — Life on the "City of Tokio" — Pre- 
parations to Receive General Grant at San Francisco — Arrival of the " City of Tokio " 
— A Grand Spectacle — Reception of General Grant at San Francisco — A Brilliant and 
Imposing Demonstration — End of the Tour Around the World ,....„. 7 86 

CHAPTER XIX. 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF GENERAL U. S. GRANT. 

Birth and Early Life — Boyish Characteristics — Enters West Point — Graduates — Appointed 
a Lieutenant in the Fourth Infantry — Services During the Mexican War — Promoted 
to a Captaincy — Marries Miss Julia T. Dent — Leaves the Army — Settles in St. Louis — 
Removes to Galena, Ills. — Breaking Out of the War — Grant Volunteers — Made Colonel 
of the Twenty-first Illinois Regiment — Receives a Brigadier-General's Commission — 
Seizes Paducah — Battle of Belmont — Capture of Forts Henry and Donnelson — Battle 
of Pittsburgh Landing — Siege of Corinth — Given Command of the Department of West 
Tennessee — Battles of Iuka and Corinth — The Campaign Against Vicksburg — Surrender 
of Vicksburg — Grant Defeats Bragg at Mission Ridge and Lookout Mountain — Is Made 
Lieutenant-General — The Virginia Campaign — Battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania 
and Cold Harbor — Grant Crosses the James River — Siege of Petersburg — Retreat of 
Lee — Surrender of Lee's Army — Grant is Made General of the Army — Appointed Sec- 
retary of War Ad Interim — Controversy with President Johnson — Grant Twice Elected 
President of the United States — Events of His Administration — Retires to Private Life. . 798 



A TOUR 

Around the World 

BY 

General Grant. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE VOYAGE TO ENGLAND. 

Determination of General Grant to visit Europe — Preparations for the Journey — Arrival in Phila- 
delphia — Reception there — The American Steamship Line — The "Indiana" — Departure 
from Philadelphia — Trip down the Delaware — The Parting — Going to Sea — The Outward 
Voyage — Arrival at Queenstown — Reception at Liverpool — Speech of the Mayor — Descrip- 
tion of Liverpool — General Grant visits the Docks — Lunch at the Town Hall — Visit to 
Manchester — An English Welcome — Reception at the Royal Exchange — The Address — 
Reception at Leicester and Bedford — Arrival in London. 

N the 4th of March, 1877, General Ulysses S. Grant 
retired from the Presidency of the United States, his 
second term of office expiring on that day. 
It had for some time been General Grant's intention to seek 
in foreign travel the rest and recreation he had been so long 
denied by his constant official duties. For the first time since 
the spring of 1861 — a period of sixteen eventful and busy years 
to him — he was a private citizen, and free to direct his movements 
according to his own pleasure. He had successfully closed one 
of the greatest wars in history, had devoted eight years to a 
troubled and exciting administration of the Chief Magistracy of 
the United States, and was sorely in need of rest. This, as has 
been said, he resolved to seek in travel in foreign lands. 
3 (33) 




34 AROUND THE WORLD. 

He devoted the few weeks following his withdrawal from office 
to arranging his private affairs, and engaged passage for himself, 
Mrs. Grant, and his son Jesse, on the steamer " Indiana," one of 
the American Line, sailing between Philadelphia and Liverpool — 
the only Transatlantic line flying the American flag. 

On the 9th of May, 1877, General Grant reached Philadelphia. 
It was his intention to pass the last week of his stay in his own 
country with his friends in that city, who were very numerous 
and devotedly attached to him. During his stay in Philadelphia 
he was the guest of Mr. George W. Childs, the owner of the 
Public Ledger, and was the recipient of many honors at the 
hands of the citizens. 

On the 10th of May, the day after his arrival, he visited the 
Permanent Exhibition — the successor of the Centennial Exhibi- 
tion — on the occasion of its opening. Just one year before this 
General Grant, in his official capacity as President of the United 
States, had formally opened the great World's Fair on the same 
spot. The nth, 12th, and 13th, he passed in social intercourse 
with his friends in the city, and on the 14th held a reception at 
the Union League Club, after which he reviewed the First Regi- 
ment of Infantry of the National Guard of Pennsylvania. On 
the 1 6th he received the Soldiers' Orphans from the State School. 
The little fellows marched by the steps of Mr. Childs' residence, 
upon which stood Generals Grant and Sherman, and were greeted 
with smiles and kind words as they passed by. Later in the day 
he received in Independence Hall the veteran soldiers and sailors 
of the city, to the number of twelve hundred. He then repaired 
to the residence of Mr. Childs, where he lunched with Governor 
Hartranft. In the evening he was serenaded, the mansion being 
brilliantly illuminated. 

The "Indiana" sailed on the morning of the 17th of May, 
and the day was opened by a farewell breakfast to the General 
at Mr. Childs' house. Among the guests present were the Hon. 
Hamilton Fish, who had been Secretary of State under General 
Grant, Governor Hartranft, General Sherman, and Hon. Simon 
Cameron. After breakfast the party drove to the Delaware 
river, and embarked on board the steamer " Magenta." 



2,6 AROUND THE WORLD. 

A brief visit was paid to the Russian corvette " Cravasser," and 
then the " Magenta " proceeded down the Delaware to overtake 
the " Indiana " which was already on her way down the stream. 
The party on board the " Magenta " consisted of General Grant, 
General Sherman, Hon. Hamilton Fish, Mayor William S. Stok- 
ley, of Philadelphia, Lieut.-Col. Fred. D. Grant, Hon. Zach. 
Chandler, Ex-Secretaries George M. Robeson and A. E. Borie, 
Hon. Simon Cameron, Senator J. Don Cameron, Governor John 
F. Hartranft, George W. Childs, Henry C. Carey, General 
Stewart Van Vleet, Major Alexander Thorpe, Hon. Isaac H. 
Bailey, U. S. Grant, Jr., General Horace Porter, and many other 
distinguished persons. The United States Revenue Cutter 
" Hamilton " accompanied the " Magenta." It bore Mrs. Grant, 
Admiral Turner, Mrs. George W. Childs, Mrs. Borie, A. J. 
Drexel, Mrs. Drexel, Mrs. Sharp, a sister of Mrs. Grant, Hon. 
Morton McMichael, Hon. J. W. Forney, A. Bierstadt, and others. 

Both steamers were gayly decorated with flags, and sped on 
their way merrily. The wharves of the city were crowded with 
people, who greeted the steamers with hearty cheers, and the 
shipping was a mass of gay-colored bunting. 

At Girard Point a brief stoppage was made, and the following 
telegraphic despatch was delivered to General Grant : 

New York, May iyt/i, 1877. 
General Grant, Philadelphia : 

Mrs. Hayes joins me in heartiest wishes, that you and Mrs. Grant may have 
a prosperous voyage, and, after a happy visit abroad, a safe return to your 
friends and country. R. B. HAYES. 

General Grant at once returned the following reply : 

Steamer Magenta, 
Delaware River, May i^t/i, n o'clock a. m. 
President Hayes, Executive Mansion, Washington : 

Dear Sir : Mrs. Grant joins me in thanks to you and Mrs. Hayes for your 
kind wishes and your message received on board this boat just as we are push- 
ing out from the wharf. We unite in returning our cordial greetings, and in 
expressing our best wishes for your health, happiness, and success in your most 
responsible position. Hoping to return to my country to find it prosperous in 
business, and with cordial feelings renewed between all sections, 

I am, dear sir, truly yours, U. S. GRANT. 



THE VOYAGE TO ENGLAND. 37 

A handsome luncheon was served on the "Magenta," General 
Grant taking the head of the table. The health of the " partino- 
guest " was drunk, and speeches were made by General Sherman 
and Ex-Secretaries Fish and Robeson, and others. At last 
Mayor Stokley rose and said : 

" General Grant : As I now feel that it is necessary to draw 
these festivities to a close, I must speak for the city of Phila- 
delphia. I am sure that I express the feelings of Philadelphia as 
I extend to you my hand, that I give to you the hands and hearts 
of all Philadelphians, and as we part with you now, it is the hope 
of Philadelphia that God will bless you with a safe voyage and a 
happy return ; and with these few words I say God bless you, 
and God direct and care for you in your voyage across the 
ocean." 

General Grant was much affected by these hearty words, and 
rising, replied as follows, in a quiet, earnest manner which showed 
how deeply he felt the honors paid to him : 

" Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen : I feel much overcome with 
what I have heard. When the first toast was offered I supposed 
the last words here for me had been spoken, and I feel over- 
come by the sentiments to which I have listened, and which I feel 
I am altogether inadequate to respond to. I don't think that the 
compliments ought all to be paid to me or any one man in either 
of the positions which I was called upon to fill. 

" That which I accomplished — which I was able to accomplish 
— I owe to the assistance of able lieutenants. I was so fortunate 
as to be called to the first position in the army of the nation, and 
I had the orood fortune to select lieutenants who could have filled 
— had it been necessary I believe some of these lieutenants could 
have filled — my place, may be better than I did. I do not, there- 
fore, regard myself as entitled to all the praise. 

" I believe that my friend Sherman could have taken my place 
as a soldier as well as I could, and the same will apply to Sheri- 
dan. And I believe, finally, that if our country ever comes into 
trial again, young men will spring up equal to the occasion, and 
if one fails, there will be another to take his place, just as there 
was if I had failed. I thank you again and again, gentlemen, 



38 AROUND THE WORLD. 

for the hearty and generous reception I have had in your great 
city." 

The "Indiana" was reached off Newcastle, Delaware, thirty-five 
miles below Philadelphia, at twenty minutes to three o'clock in 
the afternoon. Mrs. Grant and her son Jesse, who was to ac- 
company his parents, were now transferred to the steamship from 
the " Hamilton," and then General Grant and a few friends left 
the " Magenta " and climbed up the sides of the "Indiana." Then 
came the final leave-takings, after which the friends returned to 
the " Magenta." A salute of twenty-one guns now thundered 
from the sides of the " Hamilton," and the whistles and bells of 
the steamers screamed and rang a parting. Then the " Indiana " 
steamed slowly ahead, increasing her speed as she left the fleet 
behind, and amid the wavings of handkerchiefs and hats sped 
rapidly on her course to the sea. 

Being desirous of rendering General Grant's stay abroad as 
pleasant as possible, President Hayes caused the Secretary of 
State to forward the following official note to all the diplomatic 
representatives of this government abroad : 

Department of State, 

Washington, May 23d, 1877. 
To the Diplomatic and Consular Officers of the United States : 

Gentlemen : General Ulysses S. Grant, the late President of the United 
States, sailed from Philadelphia on the 17th inst., for Liverpool. 

The route and extent of his travels, as well as the duration of his sojourn 
abroad, were alike undetermined at the time of his departure, the object of his 
journey being to secure a few months of rest and recreation after sixteen years 
of unremitting and devoted labor in the military and civil service of his 
country. 

The enthusiastic manifestations of popular regard and esteem for General 
Grant shown by the people in all parts of the country that he has visited since 
his retirement from official life, and attending his every appearance in public 
from the day of that retirement up to the moment of his departure for Europe, 
indicate beyond question the high place he holds in the grateful affections of 
his countrymen. 

Sharing in the largest measure this general public sentiment, and at the same 
time expressing the wishes of the President, I desire to invite the aid of the 
Diplomatic and Consular Officers of the Government to make his journey a 
pleasant one should he visit their posts. I feel already assured that you will 



THE VOYAGE TO ENGLAND. 39 

find patriotic pleasure in anticipating the wishes of the Department by showing 
him that attention and consideration which is due from every officer of the 
Government to a citizen of the Republic so signally distinguished both in 
official service and personal renown. 

I am, Gentlemen, Your obedient servant, 

WM. M. EVARTS. 

The "Indiana" is a first-class steamer, and is commanded by 
Captain Sargeant, an accomplished navigator and an amiable 
gentleman. She is regarded as one of the most comfortable 
vessels in the fleet of the American line, and is a first-rate sailer. 
Both the company and the officers of the ship exerted themselves 
to render the voyage of General and Mrs. Grant a pleasant one, 
and in this they succeeded admirably. 

The "Indiana" passed the Capes on the afternoon of the 17th 
of May, and by sunset was fairly out at sea. The voyage was 
unusually rough, but the General and Jesse proved themselves 
good sailors. Mrs. Grant suffered somewhat from sea-sickness, 
but, on the whole, enjoyed the voyage. With the exception of 
the rough weather, there was nothing worthy of notice connected 
with the run across the Atlantic, except the death and burial of 
a child of one of the steerage passengers. The General and 
Jesse never missed a meal, and the former smoked constantly — 
an excellent test of his sea-going qualities. 

Once on board the "Indiana," General Grant seemed a changed 
man. He dropped the silence and reserve that had been for so 
many years among his chief characteristics, and conversed freely 
and with animation; entered heartily into the various amusements 
that were gotten up to beguile the tedium of the voyage, and 
was by common consent regarded as the most agreeable person 
on the ship. Said Captain Sargeant, in speaking of the Gen- 
eral's hearty good nature during the voyage : " There is no one 
who can make himself more entertaining or agreeable in his con- 
versation — when nobody has an axe to grind." Indeed the Cap- 
tain declared that he had found the General the most interesting 
and entertaining talker he had ever met. 

The voyage was of great benefit to General Grant, and on the 
first day out he told the Captain that he felt better than he had 
for sixteen years, since the beginning of the war, and that he 



40 AROUND THE WORLD. 

keenly relished the consciousness that he had no letters to read 
and no telegraphic despatches to attend to, but was free to do 
nothing but enjoy the voyage. 

On the morning of the 27th of May the " Indiana " arrived off 
the coast of Ireland. Off Fastnet Light she was compelled to lie 
to for eight hours in a dense fog. It finally lifted, however, and 
the passengers had a fine view of the coast of Ireland. Queens- 
town harbor was reached about seven o'clock, and the weather 
being rough the "Indiana" ran into the harbor to discharge her 
mails and such passengers as wished to land at Queenstown. 
A steam tug came alongside, bearing Mr. John Russel Young, 
the European Correspondent of the New York Herald, and a 
number of prominent citizens of Queenstown, who came on board 
the steamer and heartily welcomed General Grant to Ireland. 
They also cordially invited him to stay with them a while, as their 
guest. General Grant was very much gratified by this recep- 
tion, and returned his thanks for it, but stated that arrangements 
already made would compel him to decline the invitation, though 
he hoped to visit them at some future time. Letters and des- 
patches, which had been accumulating for some days at Oueens- 
town, were now delivered to the General. Among these were 
numerous invitations from leading public men in England, ten- 
dering the General a series of entertainments during his stay in 
that country. The " Indiana," having discharged her mails, now 
put about and steamed out to sea, followed by the hearty cheers 
of the party on the tender, which returned to Queenstown. 

On the afternoon of the 28th of May the "Indiana" reached 
Liverpool. It was a bright and balmy day, and was a partial 
compensation for the wretched weather that had attended the 
voyage. The shipping in the port was decorated with the flags 
of all nations, among which the Stars and Stripes were conspicu- 
ous. The passengers were conveyed in a tender to the landing 
stage, where General Grant was met by Mr. A. R. Walker, the 
Mayor of Liverpool, who welcomed him to England's great sea- 
port, and offered him the hospitalities of the city, in the following 
well-chosen words: 

" General Grant : I am proud that it has fallen to my lot, as 



THE VOYAGE TO ENGLAND. 4 1 

Chief Magistrate of Liverpool, to welcome to the shores of Eng- 
land so distinguished a citizen of the United States. You have, 
sir, stamped your name on the history of the world by your 
brilliant career as a soldier, and still more as a statesman in the 
interests of peace. In the name of Liverpool, whose interests 
are so closely allied with your great country, I bid you heartily 
welcome, and I hope Mrs. Grant and yourself will enjoy your 
visit to old England. " 

o 

General Grant expressed his thanks to the Mayor for his kind 
reception, and was then introduced to a number of prominent 
citizens of Liverpool, after which the whole party drove to the 
Adelphi Hotel, where General Grant was to stay during his 
sojourn in the city. 

Liverpool is the second city in Great Britain. It is situated on 
the northeast side of the river Mersey, along which it stretches 
for nearly five miles. It contains a population of over half a 
million inhabitants, and is one of the greatest commercial cities 
in the world. Yet, as a recent writer has well said, " it does not 
come up to the anticipations of the stranger in all those stirring, 
bustling scenes of activity which an American will look for as 
inseparable from the transactions of so vast a business. On ap- 
proaching the city from the sea, the whole front presents a series 
of blank granite walls, tall warehouses, and yawning entrances 
to dock-basins, over the top of which, and apparently in close 
contact with the chimneys of the houses, the topmasts of vessels 
can be discerned spread for many miles around." 

The first impression made upon the traveller landing in Liver- 
pool, is the strength and heaviness of the buildings. They seem 
to be erected with a view to durability and utility only. The 
business section has an air of gloom, which is heightened by the 
dinginess imparted to the fronts of the buildings by the smoke 
of the soft coal burned. The private residence quarters are very 
extensive, and though lighter and more cheerful than the business 
section, have still an air of solidity. The houses are generally 
large, and the streets are wide, well paved, and very clean. 
Several handsome parks adorn this portion of the city. 

Liverpool contains a number of handsome public buildings, 



42 AROUND THE WORLD. 

which are richly worth visiting. The Town Hall is a fine Palla- 
dian building, surmounted by a dome supporting a statue of 
Britannia. Its interior contains statues of Roscoe and Canning, 
by Chautrey, and a number of portraits of public men. The in- 
terior is laid off in suites of handsome rooms, elegantly fitted up. 
The Assize Courts and Custom-House are notable edifices, as is 
also the Exchange, in the square of which is a statue by West- 
macott, in honor of Lord Nelson, representing the great sailor 
receiving at the moment of death a naval crown of Victory. The 
Brown Library and Art Gallery, presented to the city by Sir 
William Brown, consist of several beautiful buildings filled with 
the choicest treasures of literature and art, and are free to the 
public. The pride and glory of Liverpool, however, is St. 
George's Hall, which is regarded as second only to the Houses 
of Parliament, at London, in size, beauty of design, and splendor 
of finish. It occupies an elevated position in the heart of the 
city, and presents a noble appearance from any point of view. 
It has four fronts, and is built in the Corinthian style of architec- 
ture. The eastern facade is four hundred and twenty feet long, 
and has a columnar projecting centre, with depressed wings. It 
contains a number of magnificent halls, the largest of which is 
one hundred and sixty-seven feet long, eighty-seven feet wide, 
and eighty-two feet high. It contains the grand organ, one of 
the largest instruments in the world, which was built at a cost of 
sixty thousand dollars. Concerts are given on Wednesday and 
Saturday afternoons, the admission being only sixpence. 

Liverpool contains a number of important educational institu- 
tions, which are provided with handsome buildings. It supports 
six theatres, and several other places of amusement. 

Being the chief seaport of Great Britain, the population is 
made up of representatives of every country. In the sections 
adjoining the docks, it is lawless and vicious, and requires strict 
measures by the police to keep it in order. 

On the morning of the 29th, General Grant and party, accom- 
panied by the Mayor of Liverpool and a deputation of citizens, 
embarked on the tender " Vigilant," and proceeded to the extreme 
end of the river wall, where they inspected the new docks in 
process of construction. 



THE VOYAGE TO ENGLAND. 43 

The docks of Liverpool are its pride and glory. "The ship- 
ping and transshipping of goods being carried on mostly within 
the walls of the dockyards, the casual visitor sees nothing but a 
forest of masts as indicating the commercial greatness of Liver- 
pool. Commerce does not show itself here, as in our American 
cities, but is confined within prescribed limits and bounds. The 
cargo of a vessel arriving will often be taken to load another 
ready to depart, and not hauled and stored and rehauled, as in 
New York. The docks are all supplied with immense sheds, and 
many of them with large warehouses, in which goods are tempo- 
rarily piled away under the control of the custom-house authorities. 
The immense products of the manufactories of Manchester, only 
about thirty miles distant, are brought by rail direct to the docks, 
and immediately placed in the holds of the ships for which they 
are designed, the American merchants buying direct from the fac- 
tories, and naming the dock, vessel, and time at which they are to 
be delivered in Liverpool for transportation to America. Liver- 
pool is thus rather a great mercantile depot than such a magni- 
ficent commercial city as an American would expect to find it. 

"The docks of Liverpool are undoubtedly fine specimens of 
engineering. Their immense solidity is, however, a matter of 
necessity, as the rushing tide of the Mersey, even in its calmest 
moods, would quickly sweep away a structure of less massive 
character. Each dock has a large basin in front, into which the 
gates of the dock open, for the entrance or departure of vessels. 
These gates can only be opened at high tide, and are closed as 
soon as the water commences to fall, keeping one depth of water 
always inside the docks, whilst that in the basin fluctuates twenty 
feet with the tide of the river. The great weight of water, from 
twenty to thirty feet deep, thus retained inside the docks, as will 
readily be understood, requires the most massive masonry to 
retain it within bounds. 

"The number of docks along the five miles of the city front is 
thirty-three, and yet the line is steadily being extended by the 
erection of others, still longer and more massive in their con- 
struction. These arrangements for commercial convenience 
originated with Liverpool, and have since been adopted at most 



44 AROUND THE WORLD. 

of the tidal ports of Europe. Without them it would b% neces- 
sary to load and unload vessels by lighters, and the whole river 
Mersey could scarcely afford anchorage for the shipping that is 
now floated within these granite walls at high tide, and moored in 
deep water whilst unloading and receiving cargo for a new voy- 
age. The area of the docks varies from twenty thousand to sixty 
thousand square yards, their massive gates being mostly opened 
and closed by steam-power. Each is supplied with a graving- 
dock, just large enough to hold one first-class ship, into which a 
ship requiring repair is floated, after which the gate of this inner 
dock is closed and the water pumped out, thus forming a perfect 
dry-dock." 

After returning from the docks General Grant and his party 
drove to the Town Hall, where they were entertained at luncheon 
by the Mayor. Numerous prominent citizens were present. 
Afterward, with the Mayor, the party visited the Newsroom and 
Exchange. The General's reception on 'Change by the crowd, 
which entirely filled the room, was very cordial. He made a 
brief speech of thanks from the balcony, which was received with 
reiterated cheering. The Mayor, in the name of the city, 
tendered to General Grant and his party a public banquet, to 
take place at some future time. 

On the morning of Wednesday, May 30th, General Grant and 
his party left Liverpool for Manchester. He went to the railway 
station in the Mayor's carriage. The building was gayly deco- 
rated with flags, and the train departed amid the cheers of a large 
crowd that had assembled to witness the departure. Upon 
arriving at Manchester he was heartily greeted by an immense 
crowd assembled at the station, and was officially welcomed by a 
deputation of the City Council, and was conducted by them to 
the Town Hall, where he was received by the Mayor. After this 
the party took carriages, and visited the principal points of 
interest in the city. 

Manchester is situated on the river Irwell, a tributary of the 
Mersey, and has a population (including that of Salford, its 
suburb) of 366,836 inhabitants. It is the great centre of the 
cotton manufacture of Great Britain, and its immense mills send 



THE VOYAGE TO ENGLAND. 45 

out every year 125,000,000 of pounds of cotton manufactured 
goods. It also contains extensive brass and iron founderies, and 
is largely engaged in other manufactures. It is thirty miles from 
Liverpool, from which point its products are exported to all parts 
of the world. The city is connected with Salford by six bridges, 
of which the Victoria is the handsomest. It contains many hand- 
some buildings. The most interesting of these to the visitor are 
the Cathedral Church of St. Mary, an ancient Gothic edifice, 
which contains several pretty chapels and numerous monuments. 
The Exchange, Town Hall, Museum of Natural History, Com- 
mercial Rooms, and the New Bailey Prison are the most 
conspicuous of the public edifices. 

After the reception at the Town Hall, General Grant and party 
were taken to see the most famous manufactories of Manchester, 
where the process of preparing the different goods was explained 
to them. They then visited the great warehouse of Sir James 
Watts, the Assize Courts, and the Royal Exchange. They were 
greeted at the Exchange by a large and enthusiastic assemblage 
of the merchants of the city, the party being received and con- 
ducted into the hall by Mr. Birley and Mr. Jacob Bright, the 
Members of Parliament for Manchester, and the Dean of Man- 
chester. An address was presented by the Mayor, in his official 
capacity, and was read by the town clerk. General Grant 
replied in appropriate terms, and was followed by Mr. Jacob 
Bright, who cordially welcomed him to England, and compli- 
mented him upon the magnanimous way in which he had used his 
great successes. At the close of the reception a deputation of the 
American merchants residing in Manchester waited upon the 
General, and welcomed him to the city. 

On Thursday, May 31st, General Grant lunched with the 
Mayor and Corporation of Salford. 

On the 1st of June General Grant and his party left Man- 
chester for London, by the Midland Railway, accompanied by 
General Badeau, United States Consul-General at London, Mr. 
Elis, the Chairman of the Midland Railway, and Mr. Allport, the 
General Manager. 

At Leicester, a city of 68,056 inhabitants, and one of the oldest 



46 AROUND THE WORLD. 

and most interesting places in England, an address was presented 
in behalf of the Mayor, Magistrates, Aldermen, and Council of 
the Borough, warmly welcoming General Grant, and tendering 
the hospitalities of the place. He returned his thanks in fitting 
terms, and the train proceeded onward towards the metropolis. 
At Bedford, on the Ouse, another very ancient place, in the 
county jail of which John Bunyan wrote the Pilgrim 's Progress, 
a halt was made, and the General was presented by the Mayor 
with an address, welcoming him, and styling him the Hannibal of 
the American armies. The General returned his thanks in a 
few words, and regretted that his eloquence was not equal to 
that of his British friends. 

London was reached early in the evening, Leaving the train, 
the General and his party drove to the quarters that were to be 
their home during their stay in London. 

General Grant's reception in England had surprised him. It 
was far more cordial than he had expected, and its heartiness 
touched him very deeply. He drew from it the hope that his 
visit might be a means of strengthening the friendly ties between 
the American Republic and the Mother Land. 



CHAPTER II. 

GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 

Hospitalities Tendered General Grant by Distinguished Englishmen — Attends the Epsom Races 
— Meets the Prince of Wales — Dines with the Duke of Wellington — Attends Church at 
Westminster Abbey — The Noted Places of London — Size and Population of the Metropolis 
— The City — Modern London — A Run Through the City — Westminster Abbey — Dinner at 
the American Embassy — Letter of General Grant to Mr. George W. Childs — His Impres- 
sions of his Reception — Presented at Court — Visit to Bath — Return to London — Seeing the 
Sights — The Thames Embankment — Cleopatra's Needle — The Tower of London — The 
Houses of Parliament — Opening Parliament — St. Paul's — The Bank of England — The 
Royal Exchange — The Post-Office — The British Museum — The Mansion House — The 
Lord Mayor — The National Gallery — The Docks — The Underground Railway — Hyde Park 
■ — Kensington Gardens — St. James's Park — Buckingham Palace — St. James's Palace — Gen- 
eral Grant visits Southampton — Visit to the Isle of Wight — Return to London — Guildhall 
— General Grant presented with the Freedom of the City — Dinner at the Crystal Palace — 
Dinner with the Marquis of Lome and the Princess Louise — Breakfast with Mr. Smalley — 
Dinner with the Prince of Wales — Marlborough House — Visit to the Opera — Dinner at 
Trinity House — General Grant visits Earl Russell — Invited to visit the Queen — Arrival at 
Windsor Castle — The State Dinner — Visit to Liverpool — The Press Dinner at London — 
Address from the Workingmen — The Fourth of July Celebration. 




PON reaching London, General Grant found that the 
American Minister, the Hon. Edwards Pierrepont, had 
accepted for him a round of invitations that would 
occupy his time far into the month of June. 

On the morninof after his arrival in London he went to the 
Oaks at Epsom to witness the Derby Races, that sport so dear 
to the Enelish heart. The Prince of Wales, learning that the 
General was on the grounds, expressed a desire to meet him, and 
General Grant was accordingly presented to the Prince, who cor- 
dially welcomed him to England. On the evening of the same 
day, the General dined with the Duke of Wellington at Apsley 
House. The Duke, in tendering the invitation, had said that it 
seemed to him a fit thing that General Grant's first dinner in 
London should be at Apsley House — thus delicately intimating 
that he would feel honored in receiving within the home of the 

(47) 



48 AROUND THE WORLD. 

great conqueror of Napoleon the great soldier who had brought 
the American struggle to a successful close. 

The next day, Sunday, June 3d, the General, accompanied by 
Mrs. Grant and his son, and by Mr. and Mrs. Pierrepont, attended 
divine service at Westminster Abbey. The sermon that day was 
preached by Dean Stanley, and was an appeal in behalf of St. 
Margaret's, the little parish church, that lies under the shadow 
of the huge Abbey of St. Peter. The Dean, during the course 
of his sermon, alluded eloquently to the presence of General 
Grant, and to his great services to his country. He also paid an 
eloquent tribute to the late John Lathrop Motley, the historian, 
who had recently died in London, and who was buried at Kensal 
Green the next day. 

General Grant and his party were invited into the Deanery 
after service — a considerate attention without which they might 
have had some difficulty in extricating themselves from the crowd. 
The fact that it was Sunday, and in a church, could not restrain 
the curiosity of the thousands of people present. They swarmed 
about General Grant with flattering but inconvenient eagerness, 
and it was long before the choir and nave were emptied. A few 
friends were present in the Deanery, among them Mr. and Mrs. 
Tom Hughes, Mr. J. R. Green, the historian, and Prof. Farrar. 
The Dean's guests were shown the Jerusalem chamber with its 
tapestry wrought by the hands of the wife of William the Con- 
queror, and taken up into the library, which is, in its way, one of 
the most delightful rooms in London. 

We shall attempt here no description of London, as every 
reader is familiar with the leadine features of the English Me- 
tropolis. A few facts concerning it may be of interest. It is 
situated on both sides of the river Thames, lying principally on 
the north bank in the county of Middlesex. The portion south 
of the Thames is in the county of Surrey. The distance from 
London to the mouth of the Thames is about forty-five miles. 
The city is fourteen miles long and ten broad, thus covering an 
area of one hundred and forty square miles, or more ground 
than the District of Columbia. It had a population of 2,362,000 
in 185 1. At present the population is about 4,000,000. The 



GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 49 

present increase is about 44,000 per annum, or a birth every 
twelve minutes. It contains 360,000 houses, and the cost of food 
used each day is said to be $800,000. It is one of the healthiest 
capitals of Europe, the annual death-rate being twenty-four in 
every thousand ; while that of Berlin is twenty-six, that of Paris 
twenty-eight, that of St. Petersburg forty-one, and that of Vienna 
forty-nine. 

The portion of London called The City, and which was the 
original settlement, was formerly surrounded by walls. It is 
situated on the Middlesex side, and lies between the tower and 
Temple Bar. The other official divisions of the Metropolis are 
Westminster, Marylebone, Finsbury, Lambeth, Tower Hamlets, 
Chelsea, and Southwark. Of late years two social divisions have 
sprung up, viz., Belgravia, and Tyburnia. Belgravia lies south 
of Hyde Park, and west of Westminster. It is the creation of the 
last fifty years, and is the home of the English aristocracy. Tybur- 
nia lies north of Hyde Park, and west of Marylebone. It is the 
home of prosperous city merchants and professional men, who 
hope some day to be numbered among the aristocracy. 

London was a town before the Roman conquest, its real origin 
being lost in the gloom of antiquity. The Romans surrounded 
it with walls, and under them it grew and prospered. It contains 
many venerable monuments of the past, the most interesting of 
which are those which are connected with the history of England. 

The modern city of London is massively built, and is in many 
respects the most splendid city in the world. It is the commer- 
cial capital of the globe, and consequently the wealthiest city of 
modern times. Its police regulations are excellent, and it is in 
all respects one of the best governed cities of the world. 

During his stay in London General Grant and his party visited 
the principal sights of the great city, devoting to them more or 
less time according to circumstances. As we shall not be able 
to refer to these visits in their exact order, we give in the words of 
Mr. Fetridge, the author of Harper's admirable " Handbook for 
Travellers in Europe," the following description of a run through 
the city such as was taken by the General and his party : 

" To see and properly appreciate London in an architectural 



50 AROUND THE WORLD. 

point 01 view, the traveller should denote one or two days to 
viewing its exterior. . . . Starting from Charing Cross, the archi- 
tectural and fine art centre of the West End, the towers of 
Westminster Palace and the houses of Parliament on your right, 
the National Gallery on your left, the beautiful Club-Houses of 
Pall Mall in your rear, with Nelson, in bronze, looking down 
upon you from a height of one hundred and sixty feet, you 
proceed along the Strand, passing Marlborough and Somerset 
Houses on your right ; through Temple Bar, which marks the 
city's limits on the west ; through Fleet Street and Ludgate Hill, 
emerging into St. Paul's Churchyard, with the Cathedral of Sir 
Christopher Wren's masterpiece on your right, and the Post- 
office on your left ; through Cheapside, notice Bow Church, an- 
other of Wren's best works ; through Poultry to the great finan- 
cial centre, the Exchange, in front of which stands an equestrian 
statue of the Duke of Wellington, the Mansion House, the resi- 
dence of the Lord Mayor, Bank, etc. ; down King William Street 
to London Bridge, passing in view of the beautiful monument 
erected to commemorate the great fire ; then King William's 
statue. London Bridge, from 9 to 1 1 a. m., isone of the great- 
est sights of the capital. In the immediate vicinity hundreds of 
steamers are landing their living freight of merchants, clerks, 
and others for the city, amid a fearful din of ringing bells, steam- 
whistles, shouting carmen and omnibus conductors, while the 
bridge itself is one mass of moving passengers and vehicles. 
On your left is Billingsgate (who has not heard of that famous 
fish-market?) ; next the Custom-House, then the Tower of Lon- 
don, below which are St. Catharine's Docks, then the celebrated 
London Docks, the vaults of which are capable of holding 60,000 
pipes of wine, and water-room for three hundred sail of vessels. 
The Pool commences just below the bridge : this is where the 
colliers discharge their cargoes of coal. The city of London 
derives its principal revenues from a tax of thirteen pence per 
ton levied on all coal landed. On the left, or upper side of the 
bridge, notice the famous Fishmongers' Hall, belonging to one 
of the richest London corporations. Cross the bridge, and con- 
tinue to the Elephant and Castle, via Wellington and High 



GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 5 I 

Streets, passing- Barclay and Perkins's famous brewery, Queen's 
Bench, Surrey Jail, etc., via Great Surrey Street, across Black- 
friars Bridge, along the Thames Embankment to the new houses 
of Parliament. Here you see not only the finest edifices in an 
architectural point of view, but in a military, naval, legal, and 
ecclesiastical point. England's great, alive and dead, are here 
congregated ; the Horse Guards, whence the commander-in-chief 
of the English army issues his orders ; the Admiralty ; West- 
minster Hall, the Law Courts of England ; Westminster Abbey, 
where England's kings and queens have been crowned, from 
Edward the Confessor to the present time, and where many of 
them lie buried. Here, in Whitehall Street, opposite the Horse 
Guards, is the old Banqueting-house of the palace of Whitehall, 
in front of which Charles I. was beheaded ; through Parliament 
Street to Waterloo Place, to Pall Mall, the great club and social 
centre of London ; St. James's Street, past St. James's Palace 
and Marlborough House to Buckingham Palace, to Hyde Park 
Corner, to Cumberland Gate or Marble Arch. Private carriages 
only can enter the Park : cabs and hackney coaches are not per- 
mitted entrance. Oxford Street to Recent Street, and down 
Regent (the fashionable shopping street) to the starting-point, 
Charing Cross. 

"Next drive to the Southwestern Railway Station, and take the 
train for Richmond or Hampton Court, returning by the Thames 
in a boat to Greenwich. This will be a most interesting excur- 
sion, especially if you find a comparatively intelligent boatman to 
explain the different sights on the banks of the winding river." 

During their stay in London, General Grant and his party re- 
peated their visit to Westminster Abbey, enjoying during such 
visits the rare privilege of the guidance of the gifted Dean 
Stanley. 

Westminster Abbey is, with the exception of the Tower of 
London, the most famous of all the buildings of England. The 
name was used to distinguish the Abbey from the Cathedral 
Church of St. Paul, which was formerly called the Eastminster. 
The site was originally occupied by a church, which it is believed 
was built by Sebart, King of the East Saxons. In 1055, Edward 



52 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the Confessor began the erection on the site of an abbey church 
in honor of the Apostle Peter. Very little now remains of the 
Confessor's work, with the exception of the Pyx House, which lies 
to the south of the present Abbey, adjoining the Chapter House, 
and that part of the cloister which is now used by the boys of the 
Westminster School as a gymnasium. Henry III., when he came 
to the throne, found the old Abbey in great need of repair, and 
resolved to pull it down and replace it with a new and more splen- 
did edifice. He pulled down the greater part of the Confessor's 
work, and erected the principal portion of the present edifice. 
Henry VII. rebuilt a large part of the Abbey, and added to it the 
beautiful chapel which bears his name, and which stands behind 
the head of the cross, in the form of which the Abbey is built. 
Sir Christopher Wren completed parts of the towers at the 
western entrance, but the Abbey as a whole is very much as 
Henry VII. left it. It is a massive and venerable pile, the beauty 
and grandeur of which are beyond the power of words to 
describe. 

The interior is lofty, the roof resting upon massive pillars gray 
with age. The effect is somewhat marred by the screen which 
divides the choir from the rest of the church. Daily services are 
held in this part of the building, which is provided with pews. A 
dim, religious light pervades the interior, and is in harmony with 
the sacred character of the holy house. 

Behind the present altar screen is the Chapel of Edward the 
Confessor, near which, in old times, devout persons used to sit in 
order to be cured of certain ailments. It contains the shrine of 
the Confessor, before which Henry IV. was seized with his last 
illness, while confessing. Here also are the tombs of Richard II. 
and his queen, Anne, Henry III., Henry V. and Edward III. and 
his queen, Philippa, and Queen Eleanor. The chapel also con- 
tains the two chairs used in the coronation of the monarchs of 
Great Britain. One of these has a stone seat, known in old times 
in Scotland as Jacob's Pillow. It was brought from that country 
to England by Edward I. The other chair was made for the coro- 
nation of Mary, the wife of William III. Round the Confessor's 
Chapel are a number of smaller chapels filled with tombs. 



GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 53 

Back of the tomb of Henry V. is the Chapel of Henry VII., 
a beautiful specimen of florid Gothic architecture. The gates 
leading into it are of brass, and are skilfully wrought, but are 
now so dingy with time that they resemble iron. The Knights 
of the Bath are installed in this chapel. Here are the tombs of 
Henry VII., Edward VI., Queen Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots, 
and some others of less note. 

The Poets' Corner occupies the southern portion of the arm 
of the cross. It is filled with the graves and memorials of those 
who have made the literature of England. Here lie Charles 
Dickens, Cumberland, the dramatist, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, 
Thomas Campbell, Handel, the composer, David Garrick, Samuel 
Johnson, Joseph Addison, Beaumont, Spenser, Nicholas Rowe, 
James Thomson, author of "The Seasons," John Gay, and 
others. Tablets, statues, busts, and memorials are placed here 
in honor of those whose mortal remains rest elsewhere in English 
soil, included among whom are Shakespeare, Milton, Southey, 
Cowley, Chaucer, Dryden, Butler, Ben Jonson, Prior, Drayton, 
and others. All parts of the Abbey are filled with memorials of 
England's honored dead, some of which are very beautiful works 
of art. 

Many of the stained glass windows are very beautiful. The 
large west window was painted in 1 735 ; the remainder were made 
during the present century. A movement is now in progress to 
replace all the windows with paintings of this character. 

At the south of the Abbey are the Cloisters, one of the most 
interesting portions of the venerable edifice. They are so old 
that the stone in many places crumbles at a touch of the hand. 
They contain many graves, some of which are the oldest in Eng- 
land. Adjoining the Cloisters is the Chapter House, an octagonal 
edifice, with a central pillar rising some thirty-five feet. It was 
built by Henry III. in 1 250. In old times the Chapter House was 
used as a Council chamber for the abbot and the monks, and it is 
said that the monks guilty of grave offences were flogged at the 
central pillar. The House of Commons subsequently met here 
until after the days of Henry VIII., when the place became a 
storehouse for public records. 



54 AROUND THE WORLD. 

On the evening of June 5th, General Grant was given a recep- 
tion by Mr. Pierrepont, the American Minister, at his residence 
in Cavendish Square. The house occupied by the American 
Embassy is a large, roomy structure, with a solemn and forbid- 
ding front. Next door to it is the residence of the Duke of 
Portland, an equally grim and forbidding-looking structure, but 
of a more elaborate character. Mr. Pierrepont's house was 
tastefully ornamented, and the reception was in all respects a 
success. No members of the royal family were present, as the 
Court was in mourning: for the Oueen of Holland, who had 
recently died; but among the guests were representatives of 
both political parties, and many of England's most famous men, 
including the Lord Chancellor, the Duke of Leeds, the Duke of 
Beaufort, the Marquis of Salisbury, the Marquis of Hertford, Earl 
Derby, Earl Shaftesbury, the Marquis of Ripon, the Marquis of 
Lome, Lord Houghton, Mr. Gladstone, and John Bright. 

On the 6th the General dined with Lord Carnarvon, and on 
the same day wrote the following letter to Mr. George W. 
Childs, of Philadelphia, summing up his experiences to this date: 

London, England, June 6, 1877. 
My Dear Mr. Childs : After an unusually stormy passage for any season of 
the year, and continuous sea-sickness generally among the passengers after the 
second day out, we reached Liverpool Monday afternoon, the 28th of May. 
Jesse and I proved to be among the few good sailors. Neither of us felt a 
moment's uneasiness during the voyage. I had proposed to leave Liverpool 
immediately on arrival and proceed to London, where I knew our Minister had 
made arrangements for a formal reception, and had accepted for me a few invi- 
tations of courtesy. But what was my surprise to find nearly all the shipping 
in port, at Liverpool, decorated with the flags of all nations, and from the 
mainmast of each the flag of the Union was most conspicuous. The docks 
were lined with as many of the population as could find standing-room, and 
the streets to the hotel, where it was understood my party would stop, were 
packed. The demonstration was to all appearances as hearty and as enthusi- 
astic as in Philadelphia on our departure. The Mayor was present, with his 
State carriage, to convey us to the hotel, and after that to his beautiful country 
residence, some six miles out, where we were entertained at dinner with a small 
party of gentlemen, and remained over night. The following day a large 
lunch party was given at the official residence of the Mayor, in the city, at 
which there were some one hundred and fifty of the distinguished citizens and 
officials of the corporation present. Pressing invitations were sent from most 



GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 55 

of the cities in the kingdom to have me visit them. I accepted for a day at 
Manchester, and stopped a few moments at Leicester and at one other place. 
The same hearty welcome was shown at each place, as you have no doubt seen. 
The pi-ess of the country has been exceedingly kind and courteous. So far I 
have not been permitted to travel in a regular train, much less in a common 
car. The Midland road, which penetrates a great portion of the island, includ- 
ing Wales and Scotland, have extended to me the courtesy of their road, and a 
Pullman car to take me wherever I wish to go during the whole of my stay in 
England. We arrived in London Friday evening, the 1st of June, when I 
found our Minister had accepted engagements for me up to the 27th of June, 
leaving but few spare days in the interval. On Saturday last we dined with the 
Duke of Wellington, and last night the formal reception at Judge Pierrepont's 
was held. It was a great success — most brilliant in numbers, rank and attire 
of the audience — and was graced by the presence of every American in the city 
who had called on the Minister or left a card for me. I doubt whether London 
has ever seen a private house so elaborately or so tastefully decorated as was our 
American Minister's last night. I am deeply indebted to him for the pains he 
has taken to make my stay pleasant, and the attentions extended to our country. 
I appreciate the fact, and am proud of it, that the attentions which I am re- 
ceiving are intended more for our country than for me personally. I love to 
see our country honored and respected abroad, and I am proud to believe that 
it is by most all nations, and by some even loved. It has always been my desire 
to see all jealousy between England and the United States abated and every sore 
healed. Together they are more powerful for the spread of commerce and civil- 
ization than all others combined, and can do more to remove causes of wars by 
creating mutual interests that would be so much disturbed by war. I have writ- 
ten very hastily and a good deal at length, but I trust this will not bore you. 
Had I written for publication, I should have taken some pains. 

On the 7th of June General Grant was presented at Court, 
and was cordially received by the Queen. 

On the 8th he made a flying visit to Bath, where an address 
was presented to him by the Mayor. The beautiful and ancient 
city of Bath is 107 miles from London, and contains a popula- 
tion of 52,533 inhabitants. It has been famous from the earliest 
times for its medicinal springs, the Romans having erected baths 
there as early as a. d. 43. There are four hot springs in the 
place, of which the Hot Bath has a temperature of 1 1 7 Fah., and 
yields 128 gallons a minute. Bath is one of the most fashion- 
able watering-places in England. It lies on the banks of the 
Avon, about ten miles above Bristol, in the midst of charming 
scenery. General Grant returned to London on the same day, 



56 AROUND THE WORLD. 

and in the evening dined with the Duke of Devonshire, and at- 
tended a reception at the residence of General Badeau, the 
American Consui-General. On the 9th he dined with Lord 
Granville; and on the 10th with Sir Charles Dilke. 

The days were given to sight-seeing, making purchases, and 
enjoying the wonders of the English Metropolis. Pleasant ex- 
cursions were made up and down the Thames, on the busy little 
steamers engaged in the river traffic. No one can form a cor- 
rect idea of the immensity of London who does not make these 
excursions. Starting from Lambeth Bridge, the voyager sees 
the splendid Houses of Parliament, Lambeth Palace, the Thames 
Embankment, Whitehall and Westminster Abbey, Charing Cross 
Station and bridge, Somerset House, King's College, the Temple, 
Cannon Street Station, London Bridge, Billingsgate Market, the 
Custom House and Commercial Exchange, the Tower, the Docks, 
and further on the magnificent buildings of Greenwich Hospital 
and the Arsenal at Woolwich. Busy streets lead off from the 
shore, and the stream is filled with vessels of all kinds from every 
land under heaven. 

One of the most notable structures on the banks of the river 
is the Thames Embankment. It consists of a wall of hewn gran- 
ite, protecting a massive quay reclaimed from the river. This is 
planted with trees, and forms a handsome promenade, 100 feet 
wide, extending from Westminster Bridge to Blackfriars. On 
the upper portion of the embankment stands the famous obelisk 
known as Cleopatra's Needle, presented by the Khedive of Egypt 
to the city of London, and recently erected upon its present site. 
It was one of the two obelisks that stood upon the sea-shore at 
Alexandria, Egypt. Its companion has been presented to the 
city of New York, and will soon be conveyed to that city. 

Among the places visited in London by General Grant were 
the Houses of Parliament, the Tower, St. Paul's Cathedral, the 
Bank of England, the Royal Exchange, the British Museum, the 
Mansion House, and the Docks. 

The Tower of London is supposed to have been begun by 
Julius Caesar. Shakespeare makes the following allusion to this 
in Richard III. (Act III., Scene 1): 




^*^ m,.',M,i,l:i- :,' l :i, .'..i.iiillll l 



58 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Prince Edward. — I do not like the Tower, of any place : 

Did Julius Cassar build that place, my lord ? 

Gloster. — He did, my gracious lord, begin that place, 

Which since, succeeding ages have re-edified. 

Prince Edward. — Is it upon record ? or else reported 

Successively from age to age he built it ? 

Buckingham. — Upon record, my gracious liege. 

It is very certain that William the Conqueror founded the 
present Tower upon the site of the old Roman work, and he is 
generally credited with its construction. It was used in old times 
as both a fortress and a royal residence, and also as a state 
prison, and in these characters has played an important part in 
the history of England. It is situated in the eastern part of 
London, and is cut off from the densely populated part of the 
city by what is known as Tower Hill. It covers an area of twelve 
acres, and is surrounded by a moat. Since 1848 this moat has 
been used as a garden. On the side next the river is an arch- 
way, communicating with the river, called Traitor's Gate, through 
which State prisoners were formerly conveyed into the Tower by 
boats. Within the walls are a number of buildings. These are 
the White Tower, built by the Conqueror, the Barracks, Armory. 
Jewel House, the Bloody Tower, in which Richard III. murdered 
his little nephews, the Bowyer Tower, in which the Duke of 
Clarence was drowned, according to the tradition, in a butt of 
Malmsey wine, the Beauchamp Tower, in which Anne Boleyn 
was imprisoned, and the Brick Tower, which was the prison of 
Lady Jane Grey. There are also numerous other buildings of 
less importance. There is scarcely a foot of ground or a build- 
ing within the walls that is not rich in historical interest. Famous 
sovereigns have dwelt within its towers, and many dark and ter- 
rible tragedies stain the pages of its story. It is now one of the 
principal arsenals of Great Britain, and contains vast quantities 
of improved arms, ready for instant shipment to any point where 
they may be needed. But few of the buildings are open to 
visitors. 

The White Tower was built by William the Conqueror, and is 
an admirable specimen of Norman architecture. The building is 
now used as an armory. It contains St. John's Chapel, a beau- 



GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 59 

tiful specimen of the pure Norman style. The White Tower 
contains Queen Elizabeth's Armory, which is filled with arms and 
relics. Opening from this is the room in which Sir Walter 
Raleigh was imprisoned. He was sent to the Tower three times, 
and one of his children was born here. In the armory are the 
block and axe by which he suffered death. Immediately in front 
of the Tower is an enclosure about twenty feet square, in 
which the scaffold was set up on which Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane 
Grey and a number of other female prisoners were beheaded. 

The Horse Armory, built in 1826, is a large gallery containing 
a valuable collection representing all the various kinds of armor 
and weapons used in the English service from the thirteenth to 
the eighteenth century. Here are numerous suits of armor worn 
by distinguished persons during life, among which are the suits 
of Henry VIII., Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, John of Gaunt, 
Charles Brandon, Duke of Surry, and the Prince of Wales, the 
son of James I. 

The Jewel House is devoted to the safe-keeping of the crown 
jewels and royal regalia. These are kept in an iron cage, about 
twelve feet square, in the principal room of the second story of 
the building, which is reached by a narrow stone stairway. 
Prominent amonof these is the crown made for the coronation of 
Queen Victoria at a cost of about $600,000. It contains the 
famous Koh-i-noor diamond, now one of the crown jewels of 
England, but formerly the property of Runjeet Singh, the Sultan 
of Lahore. 

The Houses of Parliament, or, as they are sometimes termed, 
the new Palace of Westminster, consist of a superb Gothic edi- 
fice on the north side of the Thames. The building covers eight 
acres of ground, and stands on the site of the old houses of Par- 
liament which were destroyed by fire in 1834. It fronts upon the 
river for 900 feet, and cost about $15,000,000. It contains the 
halls of the House of Lords and House of Commons, the various 
rooms needed for the use of the two Houses, the Libraries, the 
residence of the speaker, the apartments used by the Queen in 
her State visits, the Clock Tower, and the beautiful Victoria 
Tower. The House of Lords is a beautiful room, elaborately 



6o 



AROUND THE WORLD. 



gilded and adorned with frescoes, representing scenes in the his- 
tory of England. It is one hundred feet long, forty-five feet wide, 
and forty-five feet high. In the niches between the windows are 
statues of eighteen barons who signed Magna Charta. At the 
head of the hall is a magnificently gilded and canopied throne, 
on which the Queen sits when she opens Parliament. In the 
centre is the Woolsack— the seat of the Lord Chancellor — a bag 
of wool covered with red cloth. It has neither back nor arms, 
and must be a most uncomfortable seat. The House of Com- 




OLD WESTMINSTER HALL. 



mons is about the same length and width as the Chamber of the 
Peers, but is not so high. It is splendidly decorated. It is pro- 
vided with several galleries, one of which, over the speaker's 
chair, is used by the reporters for the press. The lobby con- 
necting the two legislative chambers contains a number of beau- 
tiful paintings of scenes in the history of England. 

The crypt of the palace is very interesting. It is massively 
arched, and contains a number of objects well worth seeing. 

Adjoining the palace is Westminster Hall, the only part of the 
old palace which remains intact. It was built by William Rufus, 



GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 6 1 

and was for ages the scene of coronations, banquets, and notable 
assemblages. It was here that the Earl of Strafford and his 
master, Charles I., were tried and condemned to death ; and here 
also took place the famous trial of Warren Hastings. The hall 
is at present used as an entrance to the Houses of Parliament, 
and is adorned with a number of statues of England's most 
famous men. 

When the Queen opens Parliament in person, she enters the 
palace through the Victoria Tower. We quote the following 
account of a recent opening of Parliament, as an example of this 
ceremony : 

"The peeresses and other ladies for whom places had been 
reserved in the House of Lords began to arrive early, and by 
one o'clock the House presented a spectacle with which surely 
no other in the world could vie. The cross-benches, between 
the bar of the House and the table, had been arranged for the 
occasion longitudinally, and a space had been railed off on the 
ministerial side, at the end nearest the throne, for the accommo- 
dation of the diplomatic body. The cross-benches, the judges' 
benches between the table and the woolsack, and the front bench 
on either side of the House, were left at the disposal of the 
peers, but the back benches on both sides of the gallery were 
occupied by peeresses and other ladies of distinction. The 
peers, who walked about greeting their friends, or who occupied 
the front or cross benches, added little but color to the general 
effect, for their robes formed an effectual disguise to grace of 
figure or dignity of carriage, and in some cases served also to dis- 
guise even tolerably familiar lineaments. While the House was as 
yet comparatively thin, a few of the arrivals attracted notice, and 
among these were Lords Houghton, Cairns, and Lucon, the Arch- 
bishop of York, and the Bishops of St. Davids, Winchester, Glou- 
cester, and Peterborough. The bishops mostly gathered upon 
the bench in front of the diplomatic body, and fourteen of the 
judges took their seats on the benches allotted to them. The 
members of the diplomatic body vied with the ladies in their con- 
tribution of gold and color to the assembly. 

"As two o'clock approached, the Duke of Cambridge entered 



62 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the House, wearing- his robes over his field-marshal's uniform, 
and by that time rather more than a hundred peers were present. 
In a few moments all rose at the entrance of their royal high- 
nesses the Princess of Teck and the Princess Christian, who took 
places towards the ends of the woolsack, facing the throne. 
The Prince and Princess of Wales were the next arrivals, and 
the Prince, after speaking to the Princess and some of the peers, 
took the chair on the right of the throne, while the Princess of 
Wales occupied the centre of the woolsack. 

"At twelve minutes past two the door on the right of the 
throne was thrown open for the entrance of her majesty, who 
was preceded by Lord Granville carrying the sword of state, by 
the Marquis of Winchester with the cap of maintenance, and by 
Lord Bessborough with the crown. Her majesty wore black 
velvet bordered with ermine, a white cap surmounted by a small 
crown, a necklace of diamonds, and the Order of the Garter; 
and was followed by their royal highnesses the Princesses Louise 
and Beatrice, and by Prince Arthur, who wore a dark green rifle 
uniform. The robe of state had previously been placed on the 
throne, and when the Queen seated herself the Princess Louise 
arranged its folds around her majesty. The princesses then 
remained standing on the steps to the left of the throne, in front 
of the vacant chair of the royal consort. Lord Granville stood 
immediately on the left, Lords Bessborough and Winchester on 
the right of the throne, and Prince Arthur to the right of the 
Prince of Wales. 

"A messenger was then despatched to summon the House of 
Commons to the presence of the Queen, and a few minutes of 
absolute stillness and silence followed — a striking contrast to the 
rustle of silks and the murmur of voices that had prevailed but a 
short time before. Then there came a sound of quickly tramp- 
ling feet, constantly increasing in intensity, until Mr. Speaker 
made his appearance at the bar of the House, followed by the 
usual and often described rush of the more swift and active of 
the members. In the front rank of these was the prime minister, 
looking as if his rest during the vacation had been of no small 
service to him. As soon as the noise of the arrival had been 



GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 63 

hushed, the lord chancellor advanced to the foot of the throne, 
and said that he was commanded by her majesty to read the 
speech, and that he would do so in her majesty's own words. 
At this statement there was probably some general sense of dis- 
appointment. As the chancellor proceeded, the Queen sat with 
eyes cast down, and almost absolutely still, a single slight move- 
ment of the fan being all that was at any time perceptible." 

St. Paul's Cathedral was another of the prominent sights of 
London visited by General Grant. This is not only the most 
conspicuous edifice in London, but it is also the largest Protestant 
church in the world. It is asserted by tradition that a Christian 
church was erected on the site in the second century, was 
destroyed by the Emperor Diocletian, was rebuilt at a later 
period, and was desecrated by the pagon Saxons, who held their 
orgies within its walls. " William the Conqueror gave a charter 
which conferred the property in perpetuity upon the cathedral, 
and solemnly cursed all persons who should attempt to diminish 
the property. In 1083, and again in 1137, St. Paul's suffered 
from fire, and in the Great Fire the cathedral was totally 
destroyed. In 1673 Sir Christopher Wren was employed to 
build a new edifice, and years later the present St. Paul's was 
completed. Looked at from the outside the cathedral is truly 
imposing. The upper portion is of a composite order of archi- 
tecture; the lower one Corinthian. Built in the form of a cross, 
an immense dome rises on eight arches over the centre. Over 
the dome is a gallery, and above the gallery is the ball and 
the gilded cross, the top of which is 404 feet from the pave- 
ment beneath. The most attractive view of the cathedral is 
obtained from the west front, in Ludgate-hill, whence admission 
is to be gained after ascending a flight of stone steps. The west 
front opens at once into the nave. Immediately on the right is 
a recess, not unlike the private chapels in Westminster Abbey, 
containing a monument to the great Duke of Wellington. A 
figure representing Arthur Wellesley lies under a canopy of 
bronze, and the names of his many victories are sculptured 
below. On the other side of the nave, to the left, is a military 
memorial ; the colors of the Fifty-eighth Regiment hang over it, 



64 AROUND THE WORLD. 

and a marble bas relief in commemoration of the members of 
the Cavalry Brigade who fell in the Crimea. A little farther on 
are two brass tablets, one on each side of the black doors, which 
are sacred to the memory of the two Viscounts Melbourne. 
These tablets bear the details of the loss of H. M. S. "Captain," 
September 7, 1870. An illustration of the ship is engraved on 
the brass, and the names of the officers and men who perished 
with her. Although there is no dearth of 'storied urn and ani- 
mated bust ' in St. Paul's, it must be confessed that the general 
impression produced by the inside of the cathedral is a gloomy 
one. The interior is almost conspicuous in its dearth of stained 
glass, and the few frescoes which decorate the supporting arches 
of the dome only serve to illustrate the poverty of the cathedral 
in artistic effort. It is impossible, too, to forget that St. Paul's is 
a show, despite the notices displayed everywhere which beseech 
the visitor to remember the sacred character of the edifice. 
Nothing of any passing interest is to be seen in the nave, but the 
active visitor may, after paying a fee of 6d., ascend a winding 
staircase to the whispering gallery, which runs round the base of 
the dome. As this is perfectly circular, a whisper may be heard 
round the wall from one side to the other, and an intelligent 
attendant will explain certain experiences of his own anent this 
curiosity in architecture. On a level with the whispering gallery 
w r ill be found the clock and the canon's library. Above is a stone 
gallery, whence, if the day be clear, a fair view of London and 
the Thames may be obtained ; but if the visitor be still more 
ambitious, he may ascend more winding stairs, and reach the 
golden gallery far away above the dome. Thence upwards he 
may climb more steps, until he reach the ball, an expedition 
which may be undertaken once in youth, but hardly ever again. 
The ball is hollow, is large enough to hold several people, and a 
visit to it entails the payment of another fee. As fine a view, 
however, as is necessary for ordinary people may be obtained 
from the golden gallery, which is, by the way, no inconsiderable 
journey from the nave. Another fee of sixpence will admit the 
visitor to the crypt, which lies underneath the nave and chapel. 
Behind an iron railing, which, however, may be entered, stands 




(65) 



66 AROUND THE WORLD. 

a porphyry sarcophagus, in which are the mortal remains of the 
Duke of Wellington. Farther on is the sarcophagus containing 
the body of Nelson, and this lies exactly under the dome. To 
the left of Nelson is Collingwood, and to the right is Cornwallis. 
At the end of the crypt is the funeral car on which Wellington's 
coffin was carried to its last resting-place. The car is made of 
the cannon taken by the Duke from the French, and cost some 
,£13,000 to construct. Just outside the railing is a granite tomb, 
under which is buried Picton, who fell at Waterloo, and on the 
south side of the altar is the painters' corner. Here are buried 
Dance, West, Wren, Sir T. Lawrence, Turner, James Barry, Sir 
Joshua Reynolds, Opie, J. Dawe, Fuseli, Rennie, Cockerell, and 
Sir Edwin Landseer. Services are held daily in the cathedral, 
to which the public are admitted ; but during these hours no one 
is allowed to visit the sights." 

The Bank of England is the most important and extensive 
banking institution in the world. It stands in Threadneedle 
Street, and faces the Royal Exchange. It consists of a series of 
low, and rather peculiar-looking buildings, and, together with its 
courts, covers an area of about eight acres. It employs about one 
thousand clerks, whose salaries range from $250 to $6,000. It is 
managed by a Governor and twenty-four directors. Many of the 
offices are open to visitors, but the bullion-room, the most inter- 
esting department in the building, the office in which the notes of 
the bank are printed, the weighing office, and the treasury, can be 
visited only upon an order from a director. 

The Royal Exchange is situated in Cheapside, opposite the 
front of the Bank of England. It stands on the site of two 
former Exchanges, both of which were destroyed by fire. It was 
erected at a cost of $900,000, and was opened by Queen Victoria 
on the 28th of October, 1848. It is almost oblong, and encloses 
a court open to the sky, which contains statues of Queen Victo- 
ria, Sir Thomas Gresham, the founder of the first Exchange, and 
Sir Hugh Myddleton. The apartments above the courtyard are 
occupied for the most part by the large insurance companies, 
prominent among which is "Lloyds." In the rear of the Ex- 
change is a statue of George Peabody, the American banker, by 






GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 6j 

Story, one of the most gifted of American sculptors. During 
business hours the merchants of the city assemble in the court- 
yard to make sales or purchases, and to discuss the news of the 
day. It is a busy place at such times, and is well worth visiting. 

The General Post-Office is situated in the street known as St. 
Martins le Grand. It is a spacious and handsome edifice in the 
Ionic style of architecture, with a striking central portico. Its 
business is immense. In London alone, the deliveries are as fol- 
lows: Letters, 150,000,000; newspapers, 74,000,000 ; book parcels, 
8,000,000. 

The British Museum is situated in Great Russell Street, 
Bloomsbury, and was begun in 1828 and completed in 1854. 
The buildings are in the Grecian style of architecture, and 
are massive in size. The institution is the noblest of its kind in 
the world, and consists of extensive collections in literature, 
science, and art. It is open free to the public every day except 
the first week in February, May, and October, when it is closed 
for the purpose of cleaning the rooms. We quote from Dickens' 
"Dictionary of London" the following description of the Museum: 

"The Museum may be roughly described as a square formed 
of four wings, the central space being covered by a separate 
building — the Reading-room. It is an imposing fabric of the 
Grecian Ionic order, designed by Sir Robert Smirke. Passing 
into the hall from the stately portico, you have on the right hand 
books and manuscripts: The Greenville Library (rarest editions 
and finest examples of typography, with block books, valued at 
$270,000); the Manuscript Department (50,000 volumes, 45,000 
charters and rolls, 7,000 seals, and 100 ancient papyri, including 
the Cotton, Harley, Lansdowne, Egerton, and additional collec- 
tions) ; the Manuscript Saloon (autograph letters of eminent per- 
sons, illuminated manuscripts, rich bindings, and great seals); the 
Kings Library (65,000 volumes, presented by George IV., re- 
markable productions of the printing-presses of Europe and 
Asia.) In the same library an Exhibition of Drawings by 
Turner, Cox, Girtin, Cozens, Muller, and Canaletto, Henderson 
bequest, 1878; of engraved Portraits, historical Prints, and Play- 
ing-cards; and of the choicest Medals in the national cabinet, 



68 AROUND THE WORLD. 

with electrotypes of the finest ancient Coins. On the left you 
have the Roman Gallery (Busts of Emperors, Roman antiquities 
found in England) ; three Greeco- Roman Galleries (sculptures of 
the Greek school, found chiefly in Italy, including the Townley, 
$100,000, Payne-Knight, valued with other antiquities at $300,000, 
bequeathed, Farnese, Cyrene, and Priene marbles, including the 
Venus from Ostia, the Discobolos, Giustiniani Apollo, Clyde, 
Muses, Mercury, Satyrs; and in the basement, mosaics, tessel- 
lated pavements) ; the Archaic Greek Room (Harpy Tomb from 
Xanthus, seated figures from Branchidae, Etruscan sepulchral 
monument) ; the Mausoleum Room (one of the Seven Wonders 
of the ancient world, the colossal chariot-tomb erected to Mau- 
solos by his sister-wife Artemisia, discovered by C. T. Newton) ; 
the Elgin Room (grandest remains of Greek sculpture, the Par- 
thenon marbles and procession-frieze, works of Pheidias, greatest 
of Greek sculptors; purchased in 181 6 of Lord Elgin for 
$175,000, now priceless; also colossal Lion from Cnidus; figured 
columns of the Temple of Diana of Ephesus, recovered by 
J. Turtle Wood, 1863-75); tne Hellenic Room (frieze, etc., of 
Temple of Apollo, erected at Phigalia by Iktinos, excavated by 
C. R. Cockerell, purchased for $95,000; the Diadumenos, athlete). 
Assyrian Galleries : Sculptured slaps from Nineveh, now Kouyun- 
jik, and Babylon, acquired during the Layard, Loftus, George 
Smith, Daily Telegraph, and Rassam explorations, illustrating 
most completely the daily life, religion, warfare, art, literature, and 
customs of the Assyrians and Babylonians, and bearing strong 
testimony to the accuracy of portions of Biblical history. The 
clusters of Assyrian ivories, bronzes, seals, and glass are un- 
rivalled, and the cuneiform tablets are a library in themselves ; 
the Creation, Fall of Man, and Deluge Tablets, Seals of Ilgi, 
b. c. 2050, Sennacherib, Darius, Assyrian accounts of Senna- 
cherib's expedition against Hezekiah, the Siege of Lachish. In 
Basement: Lion hunts by Assurbanipal III., Sardanapalus, very 
finely wrought, also processions, dogs, etc. 

"Egyptian Galleries: Colossal statues of divinities and Pha- 
raohs, ' the Vocal Memnon,' sarcophagi, graveyard tablets, obe- 
lisks, fresco paintings, hieroglyphics, the Rosetta stone, key to 



GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 69 

Egyptian language ; from Memphis, Abydos, Thebes, Karnak, 
Luxor ; dating from the time of Abraham to the Ptolemies, in 
beautiful state of preservation. On Staircase : Papyri, the pic- 
tured Ritual of the Dead. Most of the larger sculptures were 
surrendered to the English on the capitulation of Alexandria in 
1 801. Antiquities from Cyprus: small statues, busts, and miscel- 
laneous ornaments. Before you in the hall is the new Lycian 
Room: Sculptures from Lycia, obtained by Sir C. Fellows, lofty 
tombs, friezes, statues of Nereids, graceful and expressive of 
motion. On the floor above are the p-alleries containing- the 
smaller objects of antiquity : Egyptian mummies, embalmed 
animals, coffins, sepulchral ornaments, representations of divin- 
ities in gold, silver, and porcelain ; furniture, ivories, bronzes, vases, 
dresses, weapons, and tools. The Glass Collections : Slade and 
Temple cabinets ; Egyptian, Phoenician, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, 
Venetian, French, German, Dutch, and Spanish examples; 
' Christian glass.' Witt Collection: illustrating the bath of the 
ancients ; Roman ware ; Cyprus pottery. Vase Rooms : Painted 
fictile vases, Hamilton, Canino, Payne-Knight, and other collec- 
tions, from tombs, principally Etruscan and Greek ; illustrating 
by paintings the divine and heroic legends of the Greeks ; mural 
paintings, terra-cotta statuettes, drinking-cups, toys, etc. ' Bronze 
Room : Greek, Etruscan, and Roman bronzes, deities, heroes, 
mirrors, candelabra, lamps, vases ; head of Artemis (finest period 
of Greek art), Venus, Bacchus, Apollo, Hercules, seated philos- 
opher, Meleager, Mercury. British and Mediceval Room : Brit- 
ish antiquities anterior to the Roman invasion, Roman antiquities 
found in Britain ; Anglo-Saxon objects, flint implements, pottery, 
cave-remains, weapons ; early Christian lamps, crosses, mediaeval 
carvings in ivory, bells, clockwork, enamels, pottery and majolica. 
The Franks' Collection, descriptive of the Keramic art of the far 
East, presented to the nation by Mr. A. W. Franks, and valued 
at $30,000, will be removed from the Bethnal Green Museum to 
this department when the natural history collections shall have 
been transferred to South Kensington. Ethnographical Room : 
Idols, fetishes, dresses, ornaments, implements, and weapons of 
the savage races of the world, including the articles gathered by 



JO AROUND THE WORLD. 

Captain Cook in the South Sea Islands. Prehistoric Room: The 
Christy Collection, bequeathed in 1866, will be shortly brought 
from 103 Victoria Street; the room is now occupied by the Mey- 
rick armor, carvings in ivory and wook, enamels, etc., presented 
in 1878 ; and the Henderson Collection, bequeathed in the same 
year, comprising oriental arms, metal work, Persian, Rhodian, 
and Damascus pottery, majolica, and glass. Ornament and Gem 
Room: Payne-Knight, Strozzi (Blacas) (purchased in 1866 with 
other antiquities for $200,000), Castellani, and other collections; 
the Portland Vase ; ancient gold, silver, and amber ornaments ; 
fine illustrations of the goldsmith's art among the Etruscans, 
Greeks, and Romans; intaglios and cameos unsurpassed for 
delicacy and beauty ; Byzantine, Teutonic ; Anglo-Saxon and 
later ornaments ; Keltic gold breastplate and rings. Beyond 
the new Lycian room is the Reading-room : Tickets to view are 
given by the messenger in the hall ; circular structure ; original 
suggestion of Thomas Watts, improved by A. (Sir A.) Panizzi, 
carried out by Mr. Sidney Smirke ; dome 140 feet in diameter, 
height 106 feet; 60,000 books in the three tiers inside ; space for 
1,500,000 inside and out; here in the basement are also the Map 
and Chart Departments, newspaper and music libraries. There 
are 1,300,000 volumes in the department of printed books at the 
present date. The Reading-room is open daily from nine, No- 
vember to February till four, March, September, and October till 
five, rest of year till six. Beyond, in the north wing, is the old 
library, in a part of which, once the reading-room, T. Carlyle and 
Lord Macaulay worked ; it is now the cataloguing department of 
the assistants and copyists. 

" It may be noted here that, under the new regulations, tickets 
for the reading-room are not renewed ; once on the register 
always a reader, and there is no need to show the ticket if the 
reader is known to the doorkeeper. Persons under twenty-one 
are not admitted, except in very special cases indeed. The De- 
partment of Prints and Drawings: Entrance on staircase at the 
top of the Egyptian gallery ; the richest assemblage of etchings 
and engravings in Europe ; open to students every day in the 
week at ten ; closes at four all the year round except from the 



GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 7 I 

beginning of April to the end of July, when it is shut at five. 
Contains the collections of Sloane (including the Albrecht Diirer 
drawings), Payne-Knight, Cracherode, Cunningham, early Italian 
and German prints; Lawrence drawings; Hamilton, Townley, 
Moll, Sheepshanks, Rembrandt etchings, Harding, Morghen, 
Gell, Craven, Ed. Hawkins (caricatures), Slade and Henderson. 
The Department of Coins and Medals has the choicest and most 
extensive numismatic cabinets in the world, scientifically arranged; 
and includes the Roberts, Payne-Knight, Marsden, Temple, De 
Salis, Wigan, Blacas, Woodhouse, and Bank of England cabi- 
nets. Lastly are the Natural History collections, which will be 
shortly placed in the elegant terra-cotta building in the Cromwell 
road, near the South Kensington Museum, designed by Mr. 
Alfred Waterhouse. It will be sufficient to say that they occupy 
the remainder of the upper floor of the British Museum ; that 
the Zoological Collections comprise, in large part, the specimens 
brought together by Sir Hans Sloane, mammals, etc. ; Colonel 
Montagu, ornithology ; Hardwicke, Indian animals ; Hodgson, 
mammals and birds ; Yarrell, fishes ; Ross and Belcher, antarctic 
specimens ; Stephens, entomology, 88,000 specimens ; Bowring, 
entomology ; Reeves, vertebrate animals from China ; Clark, 
coleoptera ; Hugh Cuming, shells, the largest collection ever 
formed, acquired in 1866 ; A. R. Wallace, birds ; Dr. Bowerbank, 
sponges ; and the specimens collected during the Transit of 
Venus expedition (1875), and the recent Arctic exploration. 
The Geological Department comprises fossil plants, fishes, rep- 
tiles (South African, etc.), saurians, wingless birds, gigantic eggs, 
sponges, corals, shells, insects, the mammoth, megatherium, pigmy 
elephant, human remains, principally formed from the collections 
of Dr. Solander, Hawkins, Mantell, Dr. Croizet, Bain, etc., and 
extensive purchases. The Mineral Department includes a splen- 
did collection of meteorites, aerolites, siderolites, portions of 
other planets, and aerial formations; the Melbourne meteorite, 
three and a half tons ; the collections of Greville, Greg, Kok- 
scharofT, etc. ; a well-arranged series of minerals, including dia- 
monds, gold nuggets, crystals, and gems of every variety and 
degree of purity and splendor. In the Botanical Department are 



72 AROUND THE WORLD. 

flowerless plants, fungi, sea-weeds, lichens, mosses, ferns, flower- 
ing plants, grasses and sedges, palms, cycads, conifers, parasitical 
plants, fruits and stems, fossil plants, polished sections of woods, 
cones, etc., from the herbaria of Sir Hans Sloane, 1753, Sir 
Joseph Banks, 1827, Robert Brown, Rev. R. Blight, and others. 
Admission to study the herbarium and mounted specimens, daily 
ten to four, is granted on application to the principal librarian." 

The Mansion House is the residence of the Lord Mayor of 
London, and stands in the very heart of the city. It was built 
about 1 20 years ago, on the site of the old Stocks Market. It is 
adorned with a handsome Corinthian portico of six fluted columns. 
The general appearance of the building is handsome and im- 
posing. It contains a number of handsome rooms, the principal 
of which is the Egyptian Hall, which was formed by roofing over 
the inner courtyard. The Lord Mayor of London is elected 
from the Board of Aldermen on the 28th of September of each 
year, and serves for one year only. Lie is paid a salary of 
$40,000, but as this does not cover the whole outlay he is obliged 
to make, it follows that the office can be held only by a man of 
wealth. London is very jealous of the dignity of its Lord Mayor, 
and in all city celebrations he takes precedence even of the sov- 
ereign. He is installed in office on the 9th of November, on which 
day the famous Lord Mayor's show takes place. This is a pro- 
cession quite unique in character, consisting of representations 
of various characters in English history, fabulous personages, 
knights in armor, military companies, elephants, circus people, 
etc. It escorts the Lord Mayor elect from Guildhall to West- 
minster Hall, where he is sworn into office, and then returns with 
him to Guildhall, passing over a prescribed route. This show is 
one of the chief amusements of the London poor. 

The National Picture Gallery was also one of the places visited 
by General Grant. It occupies a handsome building on the north 
side of Trafalgar Square, begun in 1824 and finished in 1828, at 
a cost of $500,000. It is rich in paintings by English and foreign 
artists, and owes much of its importance to the bequests of artists 
and of private gentlemen. It contains about 800 pictures, among 
which the principal foreign schools are well represented. 






GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. JT) 

The Docks of London were visited by General Grant, and 
were regarded by him as among the most interesting features 
of the great city. They might properly be ranked among the 
wonders of the world, as they constitute the most complete and 
extensive system of docks ever built. They cover an area of 
about 600 acres, and extend in an almost unbroken series from 
the Tower to Galleonsreach, below Woolwich. " The western- 
most, St. Katherine's, commence on the farther side of Tower 
Hill, followed by the London docks, Shadwell-basin, and one or 
two minor offshoots. Here the north shore line is broken, the 
Limehouse-basin alone occupying the space between the Shadwell- 
basin and the West India docks, but the whole of the land on the 
opposite side of the river is filled up by the enormous range of 
the Surrey Commercial docks, one of the largest systems in the 
world. Then, cutting riofht across the neck of the Isle of Does, 
comes the West India dock system, consisting of three long par- 
allel basins, with entrances to the eastward into Blackwall, and 
to the westward into Limehouse-reach. To the south of these 
are the new Millwall docks, with an opening at present into 
Limehouse-reach only, and constructed with a special view to the 
coal trade. Beyond, at Blackwall, are the East India docks, con- 
siderably smaller than the West India; and finally, beyond these, 
stretching from close by the entrance of the East India docks to 
Galleonsreach, comes the magnificent range of the East India 
docks." This splendid system of docks enables the port of Lon- 
don to receive, load and discharge the thousands of vessels that 
annually enter and leave it, and which could not possibly be held 
by the Thames. 

In his journeys to and fro in London, General Grant constantly 
used the trains of the Underground Railways. These constitute 
the most complete system of city travel known to the world. 
"Fourteen miles are now in running order. The enterprise pro- 
poses, when completed, to finish an inner circle and an outer circle, 
through which the cars will continue to run round and round all 
day, stopping at the numerous stations on the route to take in 
and discharge passengers. Most of the stations are open to the 
daylight, but there are some entirely underground and lit with 



74 AROUND THE WORLD. 

gas. The number of passengers carried over this road last year 
was forty millions, and there has been a large increase this year. 
The cars are driven by steam, the locomotives being of a peculiar 
construction, which enables them to consume their own smoke. 
They carry six to eight cars, with first, second, and third-class 
compartments, and move along at the rate of about fifteen miles 
per hour, including stoppages at the stations. Almost any point 
in the city can be reached in thirty minutes, even to a distance 
that would require a couple of hours to go in a cab or an omni- 
bus. These cars are well lighted with gas, and there is not the 
least inconvenience to passengers from smoke, dust, or gas. 
Nothing escapes from the locomotive but a small amount of 
steam. There are numerous openings or vestibules along the 
route, besides the large and spacious stations, which are fitted up 
with every convenience for the accommodation of passengers 
waiting for the trains, one of which passes every few minutes, 
some of them passing off into branch tunnels leading to widely 
different stations. The old Thames Tunnel has been utilized by 
the underground roads, and now trains are constantly flying 
through it to stations on either side of the river. After being so 
many years a mere engineering curiosity, it has at last been 
made serviceable in relieving- the streets and bridges of the me- 
tropolis from the great rush of travel. This road passes under 
streets, sewers, gas and water pipes, and houses, without incom- 
moding any one or making the slightest noise above ground. 
Indeed, a stranger in London would scarcely know of its exist- 
ence were he not to follow the throng of people who are con- 
stantly passing in and out of the stations. It is a great relief to 
the streets, which are still thronged with omnibuses, carriages 
and pedestrians. The street railways are also being extended 
in some parts of the city above ground, but still meet with much 
opposition, organized by the powerful omnibus companies." 

One of the most famous places in London is Hyde Park. It 
contains 338 acres, and anciently belonged to the monks of 
Westminster Abbey. It is a handsome, well laid out pleasure- 
ground, and is the favorite resort of the aristocracy of the English 
Metropolis. The "Season" begins in April, and ends in July. 



GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 75 

During this period, between the hours of five and half-past six 
in the afternoon, the Park is crowded with handsome carriages, 
equestrians, and persons on foot. A portion of the grounds, 
called Rotten Row, is set apart for equestrians exclusively. No 
wheel-vehicle is allowed to enter it, and pedestrians are rigidly 
confined to the paths along the sides. "Troops are sometimes 
reviewed on the level portion of the Park, and near the western 
side stands a magazine well stored. The scenery of Hyde Park 
is greatly enriched by a lake called the Serpentine, where the 
bathing is good in summer and skating in winter; there are regu- 
lations for morning and evening bathing posted at various places. 
A very pretty little Italian garden, containing statuary, fountains, 
etc., has been formed at the head of the Serpentine, rendering it 
much more attractive; along its bank on the north is the Ladies 
Mile, a celebrated carriage drive. 

The Marble Arch, which formerly stood in front of Buckingham 
Palace, forms the northeast entrance at the end of Oxford street. 
Another famous entrance is Prince's Gate. The famous Exhibi- 
tion Building of 1 85 1 stood in Hyde Park, opposite this gate, and 
was subsequently removed to its present site at Sydenham. 
Near this gate is the National Monument to Prince Albert, the 
husband of Queen Victoria. It will cost $600,000, of which 
$250,000 was appropriated by Parliament. "It is a Gothic 
structure, 175 feet high, designed by G. G. Scott. The canopy 
rests upon a structure or base of Irish granite 130 feet square. 
At the four corners are four marble groups representing Europe, 
Asia, Africa, and America. The granite columns which support 
the canopy are from the Isle of Mull. Above the groups repre- 
senting the four quarters of the globe are four other groups 
representing Agriculture, Manufactures, Commerce, and En- 
gineering. On the basement are numerous life-size figures 
representing different notables in Science and Art." A gilt 
statue of Prince Albert stands under the canopy. 

Adjoining Hyde Park are Kensington Gardens, which are 
usually regarded as a portion of the park. They were originally 
the gardens of Kensington Palace, the birthplace of Queen Victo- 
ria. They contain 356 acres, and are open only to persons on foot. 



y6 AROUND THE WORLD. 

St. James's Park is a beautiful enclosure of ninety acres, ad- 
joining the Palace of St. James, and extending from the Horse 
Guards to the gates of Buckingham Palace. It is bordered 
by the buildings named St. James's Palace, the Admiralty, the 
Treasury, Marlborough House — the residence of the Prince of 
Wales — and other handsome edifices. 

There are a number of other parks in London, the principal of 
which, after those named, is Regejit's Park, covering an area of 
472 acres, and adjoining which are the world-renowned Zoological 
Gardens. 

Buckingham Palace is the residence of the Oueen when in 
London. It is situated at the west end of St. James's Park, and is 
a handsome, but gloomy building, the interior being in keeping 
with the exterior in this respect. 

St. James's Palace was the London residence of the sovereigns 
of England previous to the accession of Victoria. It stands at the 
northwestern end of St. James's Park, and is a gloomy-looking 
edifice with a heavy castellated front. It is the oldest of the royal 
establishments in London. The son of James II., by Mary 
of Modena, generally known as the Old Pretender, was born 
here, as was also George IV. Mary I. (Bloody Mary) and Prince 
Henry, son of James I., died here, and here Charles I. parted with 
his children. The palace is at present used only for formal 
levees, and its occupants are persons to whom the Queen is 
pleased to grant free quarters. 

It would be impossible to give within our limits a description of 
all the places of interest in London, so we must be satisfied with 
naming only a few. 

On the nth of June General Grant and party went to South- 
ampton to visit Mr. and Mrs. Sartoris, the latter being the 
General's only daughter. Several days were spent there, a part 
of the time being devoted to drives along the south coast, one of 
the most charming portions of England in summer. 

Southampton is pleasantly situated on the English Channel, 
seventy-five miles from London. It contains a population of 
about 47,000 inhabitants, and is a thriving and busy place. Many 
of the steamers plying between the Continent of Europe and the 



GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. J77 

United States call at Southampton regularly to receive or land 
mails and passengers. The town is in many respects a pleasant 
one. 

General Grant and his party made the usual visit to Netley 
Abbey, three miles from Southampton, one of the most pic- 
turesque ruins in England, and to New Forest, in which famous 
wood William Rufus was shot by an arrow from the bow of Sir 
Walter Tyrrell. A stone now marks the spot once occupied by 
the oak from which Tyrrell's arrow glanced and took its fatal 
course towards the monarch's breast. 

An excursion was also made to the Isle of Wight, by common 
consent the most beautiful portion of England. This lovely 
island lies between the English Channel and a smaller channel 
called the Solent, which separates it from the coast of Hampshire. 
It is about thirteen miles long from north to south, and about 
twenty-two and a half miles wide from east to west. The Solent 
varies from four to six miles in length, and is a famous anchorage 
of the English fleet in time of war with any of the Continental 
nations. The island abounds in beautiful scenery, the wildest and 
most picturesque lying along the southern coast. 

Steamers run frequently each day from Southampton to West 
Cowes, a pretty town on the north shore of the island. It con- 
tains a population of about 6,000, is the head-quarters of the Royal 
Yacht Squadron, and is one of the most fashionable watering- 
places in England. 

Across the Medina, and opposite Cowes, is Osborne, the sea- 
side residence of the Queen, adjoining which is Norris Castle, 
formerly the residence of the Duchess of Kent, where Queen 
Victoria passed a large part of her childhood. 

Five miles from Cowes, by railway, is Newport, the capital of 
the island, a town of about 8,000 inhabitants. Newport was the 
scene of the unsuccessful negotiations of Charles I. with the Parlia- 
mentary Commissioners, and in the vicinity is Carisbrooke Castle, 
where he was confined before his last journey to London to meet 
his fate. The castle was built by William Fitz Osborne, a Nor- 
man, who was made by the Conqueror the first Lord of the Isles. 
It is now a picturesque ruin, and is the principal sight on the 



78 AROUND THE WORLD. 

island. Ryde, on the north coast, is the principal town as regards 
population. It contains 10,000 inhabitants, and is a thriving and 
beautiful place. Its streets are well paved and clean, and it 
contains a number of handsome villas, and is lighted with gas. 
The view from any direction is lovely. There are a number of 
smaller towns on the island, some of which are fashionable water- 
ing-places. The whole island seems to the visitor like an en- 
chanted land, and one could pass months there without wearying. 

On the 14th of June General Grant returned to London, and 
on the 15th he was formally presented with the freedom of the 
city of London. This important ceremony took place at Guild- 
hall. It constitutes the highest distinction the municipality of 
London can confer upon a person it desires to honor, and has 
only once before been conferred upon an American — the late 
George Peabody. 

The City of London proper, it must be remembered, forms but 
a small part of the vast metropolis of England. Originally sur- 
rounded by a wall with seven gates it is still an independent 
municipality, and is ruled by its own government, founded upon 
the votes of its freemen, while the rest of the metropolis, includ- 
ing the enormous majority of its inhabitants and the greater part 
of its area, is governed by Parliamentary authority. Within the 
City limits the Lord Mayor takes precedence of all the royal 
family. On state occasions, when visiting the City, the sovereign 
must go through the ceremony of asking his lordship's permis- 
sion to enter those limits, halting at Temple Bar to receive the 
keys of the gate. Together with his corporation, consisting of 
twenty-five Aldermen, representing as many wards, and a Com- 
mon Council composed of 206 members, the Lord Mayor controls 
everything relating to tolls, dues, markets, the administration of 
justice, police, lighting, paving, and a variety of other matters. 

Guildhall, in which the ceremony we are about to describe took 
place, is one of the most interesting buildings in London. It 
dates originally from the time of Henry IV. " The old walls are 
of so splendid a solidity that they stood triumphant through the 
Great Fire of 1 666, towering amid the flames ' in a bright shining 
coat, as if it had been a palace of gold or a great building of 



GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 79 

burnished brass/ The old crypt, too, of the same date (141 1), 
is a beautiful piece of work, seventy-five feet long by forty-five 
feet wide, and divided into three aisles by six clusters of circular 
columns in Purbeck marble, supporting a fine groined roof, partly 
in stone, partly in chalk and bricks ; the principal intersections 
being covered with carved bosses of heads, shields, and flowers. 
The vaulting, with four-centred arches, is considered to be one 
of the earliest as well as one of the finest examples of its kind 
in England. At the eastern end is a fine arched entrance of 
Early English, and in the southeastern angle an octagonal recess 
about thirteen feet in height. The length of the great hall is one 
hundred and fifty feet, its height fifty-five feet, and its breadth 
fifty feet. The side walls, which are five feet in thickness, are 
divided by clustered columns and mouldings into eight spaces, 
and at each end of the hall is a splendid Gothic window, occupy- 
ing the whole width, and nearly perfect in all architectural details. 
Only the upper portions, however, are filled with stained glass, 
and that chiefly of modern date. In corners, on lofty octagonal 
pedestals, are the statues of the two famous giants, Gog and 
Magog, which were formerly carried in procession in the Lord 
Mayor's show. 

" The great State banquets are held here ; the hall being capa- 
ble of containing between 6,000 and 7,000 persons. It was here 
that Whittington, entertaining in his capacity of Lord Mayor Henry 
V. and his queen, paid the king after dinner the delicate compli- 
ment of burning, on a fire of sandal-wood, his majesty's bonds 
for ^60,000; and it was here also that a successor of equal 
loyalty, but perhaps hardly equal felicity in its demonstration, 
seized Charles II. by the arm, as that merry monarch was 
endeavoring to beat at least a partially sober retreat, and per- 
emptorily insisted upon his brother potentate remaining for 
' t'other bottle.' Even in these moderate times the Lord Mayor's 
feast is a Gargantuan institution, involving the services of twenty 
cooks, the slaughter of forty turtles, and the consumption of 
somewhere about fourteen tons of coal. Around the Guildhall 
are a cluster of courts, duplicating those at Westminster, and 
there are also numerous other apartments, such as the Common 



SO AROUND THE WORLD. 

Council Chamber, the Court of Aldermen, the Chamberlain's 
Office, the Chamberlain's Parlor, the Library (one of the finest in 
the kingdom), etc., with a court called the Lord Mayor's court, 
nominally for the recovery of small debts incurred in the City. 

The parchment containing the resolutions conferring upon 
General Grant the freedom of the City was contained in a. beau- 
tifully ornamented casket of gold. 

The obverse centre panel contains a view of the Capitol at 
Washington, and on the right and left are the ex-President's 
monogram and the arms of the Lord Mayor. On the reverse 
side of the casket is a view of the entrance to the Guildhall and 
an appropriate inscription. At the ends are two figures, also in 
gold, finely modelled and chased, representing the city of London 
and the United States of America, bearing their respective 
shields, the latter executed in rich enamel. At the corners are 
double columns, laurel-wreathed with corn and cotton, and on 
the cover a cornucopia, emblematical of the fertility and prosper- 
ity of the United States. The rose, shamrock, and thistle are 
also introduced. The cover is surmounted by the arms of the 
city of London. The casket is supported by American eagles, 
modelled and chased in gold, the whole standing on a velvet 
plinth, decorated with the Stars and Stripes. 

About eight hundred ladies and gentlemen, including several 
members of the Government, American consuls, merchants and 
the principal representatives of the trade and commerce of Lon- 
don, were invited to meet the General at luncheon, subsequent 
to the civic ceremony. Among the guests were Sir Stafford 
Northcote, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and many members of 
Parliament. The entrance to the hall and the corridors of the 
Guildhall were laid with crimson cloth. The walls were deco- 
rated with mirrors and exotics. The guests began to arrive 
about half-past eleven o'clock, and from that time until half-past 
twelve a steady stream of carriages poured into the Guildhall 
yard. General Grant arrived about one o'clock. 

The General was accompanied by Mrs. Grant, and Minister 
and Mrs. Pierrepont. He was received at the entrance of the 
Guildhall by a deputation consisting of four Aldermen with their 



GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 8 I 

chairman, six members of the City Land Committee, including 
the mover and seconder of the resolution for presenting the 
freedom of the city to the General, and was by them conducted 
to the library, where he was received by the Lord Mayor, and 
took a seat on the dais, on the left hand of his Lordship, who 
occupied the chair as President of a Special Court of the Com- 
mon Council, at which were assembled most of the members of 
the Corporation, the Aldermen wearing their scarlet robes and 
the Common Councilmen their mazarin gowns. 

The resolution of the Court was read by the Town Clerk, and 
General Grant, after an address made by the Chamberlain, Mr. 
B. Scott, was admitted to the freedom of the city, the Chamber- 
lain making the official announcement to him in these words : 

"The unprecedented facilities of modern travel, and the run- 
ning to and fro of all classes in our day, have brought to our 
shores unwonted visitors from Asia, as well as from Europe — 
rulers of empires both ancient and of recent creation ; but 
amongst them all we have not as yet received a President of the 
United States of America — a power great, flourishing and free, 
but so youthful that it celebrated only last year its first centen- 
nial. A visit of the ruling President of those States is scarcely 
to be looked for, so highly valued are his services at home dur- 
ing his limited term of office ; you must bear with us, therefore, 
General, if we make much of an Ex-President of the great re- 
public of the New World visiting the old home of his fathers. 
It is true that those first fathers — Pilgrim Fathers we now call 
them — chafed under the straitness of the parental rule, and 
sought in distant climes the liberty then denied them at home ; 
it is true, likewise, that their children subsequently resented the 
interference, well intended if unwise, of their venerated parent, 
and manifested a spirit of independence of parental restraint 
not unbecoming in grown-up sons of the Anglo-Saxon stock. 
Yet, for all this, there is furnished from time to time, abundant 
evidence that both children and parent have forgotten old dif- 
ferences and forgiven old wrongs ; that the children continue to 
revere the mother country, while she is not wanting in maternal 
pride at witnessing so numerous, so thriving, and so freedom- 



82 AROUND THE WORLD. 

loving a race of descendants. If other indications were wanting 
of mutual feelings of regard, we should find them, on the one 
hand, in the very hospitable and enthusiastic reception accorded 
to the Heir Apparent to the British throne, and subsequently to 
H. R. H. Prince Arthur, when, during your presidency, he visited 
your country ; and on the other hand, in the cordial reception 
which, we are gratified to observe, you have received from the 
hour when you set foot on the shores of Old England. In this 
spirit, and with these convictions, the Corporation of London re- 
ceives you to-day with all kindliness of welcome, desiring to com- 
pliment you and your country in your person by conferring upon 
you the honorary freedom of their ancient city — a freedom which 
had existence more than eight centuries before your first ances- 
tors set foot on Plymouth Rock ; a freedom confirmed to the 
citizens, but not originated, by the Norman conqueror, which has 
not yet lost its significance or its value, although the liberty which 
it symbolizes has been extended to other British subjects, and 
has become the inheritance of the great Anglo-American family 
across the Atlantic. But we not only recognize in you a citizen 
of the United States, but one who has made a distinguished 
mark in American history — a soldier whose military capabilities 
brought him to the front in the hour of his country's sorest trial, 
and enabled him to strike the blow which terminated fratricidal 
war and reunited his distracted country ; who also manifested 
magnanimity in the hour of triumph, and amidst the national in- 
dignation created by the assassination of the great and good 
Abraham Lincoln, by obtaining for vanquished adversaries the 
rights of capitulated brethren in arms, when some would have 
treated them as traitors to their country. We further recognize 
in you a President upon whom was laid the honor, and with it 
the responsibility, during two terms of office, of a greater and 
more difficult task than that which devolved upon you as a gen- 
eral in the field — that of binding up the bleeding frame of society 
which had been rent asunder when the demon of slavery was 
cast out. That the constitution of the country over which you 
were thus called to preside survived so fearful a shock, that we 
saw it proud and progressive, celebrating its centennial during 



GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 83 

the last year of your official rule, evinces that the task which 
your countrymen had committed to you did not miscarry in your 
hands. 

"That such results have been possible must, in fairness, be 
attributed in no inconsiderable degree to the firm but conciliatory 
policy of your administration at home and abroad, which is 
affirmed of you by the resolution of this honorable Court whose 
exponent and mouthpiece I am this day. May you greatly enjoy 
your visit to our country at this favored season of the year, and 
may your life be long spared to witness in your country and in our 
own — the two great branches of the Anglo-Saxon family — a career 
of increasing amity, mutual respect, and honest, if spirited rivalry 
— rivalry in trade, commerce, agriculture, and manufacture; in the 
arts, science, and literature ; rivalry in the highest of all arts, how 
best to promote the well-being and to develop the industry of 
nations, how to govern them for the largest good to the greatest 
number, and for the advancement of peace, liberty, morality, and 
the consequent happiness of mankind. Nothing now remains, 
General, but that I should present to you an illuminated copy of 
the resolutions of this honorable Court, for the reception of 
which an appropriate casket is in course of preparation ; and, in 
conclusion, offer you, in the name of this honorable Court, the 
right hand of fellowship as a citizen of London." 

When the cheers which followed this speech had subsided, 
General Grant replied as follows: 

"It is a matter of some regret to me that I have never 
cultivated that art of public speaking which might have enabled 
me to express in suitable terms my gratitude for the compliment 
which has been paid to my countrymen and myself on this occa- 
sion. Were I in the habit of speaking in public, I should claim 
the right to express my opinion, and what I believe will be the 
opinion of my countrymen when the proceedings of this day shall 
have been telegraphed to them. For myself, I have been very 
much surprised at my reception at all places since the day I 
landed at Liverpool up to my appearance in this the greatest city 
in the world. It was entirely unexpected, and it is particularly 
gratifying to me. I believe that this honor is intended quite 



84 AROUND THE WORLD. 

as much for the country which I have had the opportunity of 
serving in different capacities, as for myself, and I am glad that 
this is so, because I want to see the happiest relations existing, 
not only between the United States and Great Britain, but also 
between the United States and all other nations. Although a sol- 
dier by education and profession, I have never felt any sort of 
fondness for war, and I have never advocated it except as a means 
of peace. I hope that we shall always settle our differences in all 
future negotiations as amicably as we did in a recent instance. I 
believe that settlement has had a happy effect on both countries, 
and that from month to month, and year to year, the tie of com- 
mon civilization and common blood is getting stronger between 
the two countries. My Lord Mayor, ladies, and gentlemen, I 
again thank you for the honor you have done me and my 
country to-day." 

This reply was received with loud cheers, after which General 
Grant signed his name to the roll of honorary freemen of the city 
of London. 

The Lord Mayor now conducted General Grant to the great 
hall, where a luncheon was served upon twenty tables. After the 
health of the Queen was drunk, the Lord Mayor in a cordial and 
tasteful speech proposed the health of General Grant, which was 
drunk with applause. General Grant, in reply, said : 

" My Lord Mayor, Ladies, and Gentlemen : Habits formed 
in early life and early education press upon us as we grow older. 
I was brought up a soldier — not to talking. I am not aware that 
I ever fought two battles on the same day in the same place, and 
that I should be called upon to make two speeches on the same 
day under the same roof is beyond my understanding. What I 
do understand is, that I am much indebted to all of you for the 
compliment you have paid me. All I can do is to thank the Lord 
Mayor for his kind words, and to thank the citizens of Great 
Britain here present in the name of my country and for myself." 

" I never heard," says Mr. Smalley, the correspondent of the 
New York Tribune, who was one of the guests, "a more perfect 
speech of its kind than that. There is a charm, a felicity in the 
turn of one or two of its phrases that would do credit to the best 



GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 



85 



artists in words — to Mr. Kinglake and to Mr. Matthew Arnold 
themselves." 

Later in the day General Grant attended a pleasant and 
informal dinner given in his honor at the Crystal Palace. 
Mr. Thomas Hughes, in a graceful and eloquent speech, pro- 
posed the health of the General, at the same time stating that as 
the occasion was not formal their guest was under no obligation 




THE CRYSTAL PALACE AT SYDENHAM. 



to reply. General Grant rose slowly, when the toast had been 
honored, and said simply : 

" Mr. Hughes, I must none the less tell you what gratification 
it gives me to hear my health proposed in such hearty words by 
Tom Brown of Rugby." 

At night there was a handsome display of fireworks in the 
grounds of the palace. One of the principal pieces was a portrait 
of General Grant, and another a representation of the Capitol at 
Washington. "General Grant sat silent while his own portrait — 
a capital likeness — was drawn in lines of changing flame against 



S6 



AROUND THE WORLD. 



the dark background of Beckenham Hills. Not a muscle moved ; 
there was not a sign of pleasure at the splendid compliment paid 
him ; not a movement of recognition for the cheers with which 
the great crowd below hailed the portrait. But when this had 
burnt out, and the next piece — a sketch of the building which 
crowns the heights above the Potomac — was blazing, a slight 
smile parted the General's lips as he remarked to Lady Ripon, 
who sat next to him : ' They have burnt me in effigy, and now they 
are burning the Capitol ! ' " 




INTERIOR VIEW OF THE TRANSEPT OF CRYSTAL PALACE. 

The Crystal Palace, at which the entertainment referred to was 
given, is situated at Sydenham, about seven miles from London. 
It stands in the midst of large and beautiful grounds, and com- 
mands one of the loveliest views in England. It was erected 
at a cost of about $7,500,000. Its grounds cover two hundred 
acres. The building originally stood in Hyde Park, in London, 
and was erected there for the Exhibition of 185 1. It was re- 
moved to its present site a few years later. It is built of iron 
and glass, and though so immense, has an air of lightness and 
grace that add greatly to its rare beauty. It contains one of the 



GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 87 

most superb collections of objects of art, beauty and utility in the 
world. A portion of the building is appropriated to tropical 
trees and plants, and other portions are laid off in courts of 
Egyptian, Greek and Roman sculpture, and to courts of Assyria, 
the Alhambra, Germany, and Italy. These are filled with copies 
of the works of the great masters in sculpture. Entertainments 
of various kinds are frequently given at the Crystal Palace, and 
are attended by vast audiences. 

On the 1 6th of June General Grant and his family dined at 
Kensington Palace, with the Princess Louise and the Marquis of 
Lome. The next day they dined with Mr. Morgan, an American 
banker residing in London. 

On the 1 8th the General took breakfast with Mr. George W. 
Smalley, the Correspondent of the New York Tribune, at his 
residence in Hyde Park Square. A distinguished company came 
together upon this occasion. There were present Robert Brown- 
ing, Professor Huxley, A. W. Kinglake, Matthew Arnold, Anthony 
Trollope, Thomas Hughes, F. H. Hill, editor of the Daily News, 
and others. In the evening the General attended a dinner given 
in his honor at the Reform Club, upon which occasion Earl Gran- 
ville presided, wearing his ribbon and star of the Order of the 
Garter. This was a brilliant affair, and the speeches made were 
among the most memorable of any drawn out during the Gen- 
eral's visit to London. 

On the 19th of June General Grant dined with the Prince of 
Wales, at Marlborough House, to meet the Emperor of Brazil. 
Marlborough House is the London residence of the Prince of 
Wales, and stands in Pall Mall, St. James's. It was built by the 
great Duke of Marlborough, but was purchased by the Crown in 
181 7, for the Princess Charlotte and Prince Leopold, the latter 
of whom afterwards became the first King of Belgium. Queen 
Adelaide, the widow of William IV., also lived here for a number 
of years. After dinner the General visited the office of the Lon- 
don Times, and was shown over the establishment by Mr. J. C. 
Macdonald, the manager of the paper. On the 20th the General 
dined with Lord Ripon, and on the 21st with Minister Pierrepont, 
to meet the Prince of Wales. On the 21st he attended a recep- 



bb AROUND THE WORLD. 

tion given by Mrs. Hicks, an American lady residing in London. 
In the evening, in company with Mrs. Grant and General Badeau, 
he attended a performance of "Martha," at the Covent Garden 
Theatre. He wore his uniform on this occasion, and as he en- 
tered the curtain rose, showing the stage decorated with Ameri- 
can flags, and occupied by the full company. Madame Albani, 
the prima donna of the evening, sang the " Star Spangled Ban- 
ner" (the company joining in the chorus), accompanied by the 
orchestra. During the singing the General and the entire 
audience remained standing. 

On the evening of the 2 2d General Grant attended a banquet 
given by Trinity Board, at their handsome hall on Tower Hill. 
This Board has charge of the pilotage, lighthouses, etc., of the 
United Kingdom. The Prince of Wales presided at this banquet. 
Prince Leopold, Prince Christian, the Prince of Leiningen, the 
Prince of Saxe-Weimar, the Duke of Wellington, the Marquis 
of Hertford, the Earl of Derby, the Earl of Carnarvon, Sir 
Stafford Northcote, Mr. Cross and Chief-Justice Sir Alexander 
Cockburn were among the distinguished company present. 

The Prince of Wales, referring to General Grant, in the course 
of his speech, said: 

" On the present occasion it is a matter of peculiar gratification 
to us as Englishmen to receive as our guest General Grant. 
(Cheers.) I can assure him for myself, and for all loyal subjects 
of the Queen, that it has given us the greatest pleasure to see 
him as a guest in this country." (Cheers.) 

Earl Carnarvon proposed the health of the visitors, and coupled 
with it General Grant's name. - He said : 

"Strangers of all classes, men of letters, arts, science, state, 
and all that has been most worthy and great, have, as it were, 
come to this centre of old civilization. I venture, without dispar- 
agement to any of those illustrious guests, to say that never has 
there been one to whom we willingly accord a freer, fuller, heartier 
welcome than we do to General Grant. 

" On this occasion, not merely because we believe he has per- 
formed the part of a distinguished general, nor because he has 
twice filled the highest office which the citizens of his great coun- 




ALBERT EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES. 



(89) 



90 AROUND THE WORLD. 

try can fill, but because we look upon him as representing that 
good will and affection which ought to subsist between us and the 
United States. It has been my duty to be connected with the 
great Dominion of Canada, stretching several thousand miles 
along the frontier of the United States, and during the last three 
or four years I can truthfully say that nothing impressed me more 
than the interchange of friendly and good offices which took 
place between the two countries under the auspices of President 
Grant." 

General Grant replied that he felt more impressed than he had 
possibly ever felt before on any occasion. He came here under 
the impression that this was Trinity House, and that trinity con- 
sisted of the army, navy and peace. He thought it was a place 
of quietude, where there would be no talk or toasts. He had 
been therefore naturally surprised at hearing both. He had 
heard some remarks from His Royal Highness which compelled 
him to say a word in response. He begged to thank His High- 
ness for these remarks. There had been other things said 
during the evening highly gratifying to him. 

Not the least gratifying was to hear that there were occasion- 
ally in this country party fights as well as in America. He had 
seen before now a war between three departments of the State, 
the executive, the judicial, and the legislative. He had not seen 
the political parties of England go so far as that. He would 
imitate their chaplain, who had set a good example of oratory — 
that was shortness — and say no more than simply thank His Royal 
Highness and the company on behalf of the visitors. 

On the morning of the 23d General Grant paid a visit to the 
veteran statesman, Earl Russell, who was living in retirement at 
his home at Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park, a special gift 
to him from the Queen. His visit was a pleasant one, and the 
venerable English leader expressed himself as much gratified by 
the attention shown him by the General. 

On the 25 th General Grant attended an entertainment at the 
house of Mr. McHenry, the celebrated financier, and in the 
evening took dinner with Lord Derby at his house in St. James's 
Square. 



GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 9 1 

General Grant received an invitation from the Oueen of Eng;- 
land to visit her at Windsor Castle with his family. Windsor 
Castle has been for centuries the favorite residence of the sov- 
ereigns of England, and is one of the noblest architectural works 
in the world. The Castle comprises a number of buildings, which 
cover, including the various courts, an area of twelve acres, and 
are surrounded on three sides by a terrace 2,500 feet wide. The 
Castle stands in the midst of " Little Park," which is about four 
miles in circumference. A broad avenue south of the Castle 
connects these grounds with Great Park, the circuit of which is 
about eighteen miles. Windsor was from the earliest times a 
favorite residence of the Saxon kings. The present Castle was 
founded by William the Conqueror, and was rebuilt by Edward 
III., under the direction of William de Wykeham, and again in 
1824-28, under Sir Jeffrey Wyattville. It consists of the private 
apartments of the sovereign, known as "The Quadrangle," the 
Round Tower, St. George's Chapel, and a number of other edi- 
fices. St. George's Chapel is a beautiful specimen of Gothic 
architecture, and is the peculiar chapel of the Order of the 
Garter. The knights of that order are installed here, and their 
banners hang over their stalls in the choir. Here also the Prince 
of Wales was married to his lovely bride, the Princess Alexandra 
of Denmark. The Royal Vault is attached to the Chapel, and is 
deeply interesting. It contains the remains of many of England's 
sovereigns, including Henry VIII., Queen Jane Seymour, George 
III. and his Queen, William IV. and his Queen, Charles I., and 
the Princess Charlotte. The Round Tower is the citadel or keep 
of the Castle, and is a massive structure from the battlements of 
which floats the Royal standard. It was in this tower that James 
I. of Scotland was confined. The principal halls of the Castle 
are in the Quadrangle. The State apartments are very large 
and beautiful, and are adorned with rare works of art, embracing 
paintings, statuary, frescoes, and bronzes. These halls lie on the 
north side of the Quadrangle, the Queen's private apartments 
and those of her household occupying the southern and eastern 
sides. The scenery around Windsor is very beautiful. From 
the top of the Round Tower the visitor looks down upon Runney- 
mede, the scene of the granting by King John of Magna Charta. 



92 AROUND THE WORLD. 

On the afternoon of the 27th of June, General and Mrs. Grant, 
accompanied by Jesse Grant, Mr. and Mrs. Pierrepont, and 
General Badeau, to whom invitations had also been extended, 
left London for Windsor. The trip was a short one, the train 
reaching the latter place in forty-five minutes from London. At 
half-past eight in the evening, the Queen, surrounded by her 
Court, received her guests in the beautiful corridor extending 
around the south and east sides of the Quadrangle, and leading 
to her private apartments. Dinner was announced, and was 
served in the Oak Room. It was attended by a noble and bril- 
liant company, among whom were Prince Leopold, Prince Chris- 
tian, Princess Beatrice, Lord Derby, Lady Derby, the Duchess 
of Wellington, and others. As the Court was in mourning for 
the late Queen of Holland, the ladies wore black dresses with 
white trimmings. As the party were assembling for dinner the 
following despatch was received and delivered by the Queen to 
General Grant: 

Providence, Rhode Island. 

From General Hartranft, Commander in Chief, to General U. S. Grant, Care of Her 
Majesty the Queen. 

Your comrades in national encampment assembled, in Rhode Island, send 
heartiest greeting to their old commander, and desire, through England's 
Queen, to thank England for Grant's reception. 

General Grant having communicated the contents of this de- 
spatch to Her Majesty, who expressed her gratification at the 
hearty greeting, returned the following reply : 

Grateful for telegram. Conveyed message to the Queen. Thank my old 
comrades. 

The dinner passed off pleasantly, and during its progress the 
band of the Grenadier Guards, stationed in the Quadrangle, dis- 
coursed sweet music. After the repast was over the Queen 
conversed for a while with her guests, and at ten o'clock with- 
drew, followed by her attendants. The remainder of the evening, 
until half-past eleven, was spent in conversation and playing 
whist with the members of the Royal household. The next 
morning General Grant and party returned to London. 



GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 93 

Later in the day the General in company with his son Jesse 
and General Badeau went to Liverpool, where the General was 
a guest at a dinner given in his honor by the Mayor and Cor- 
poration of that city. He thus fulfilled an engagement made at 
the time of his landing at Liverpool. Two hundred and fifty 
persons sat down to table, and the dinner was in all respects a 
marked success. The Mayor proposed the health of General 
Grant, and the General responded in one of his happiest 
speeches. The next morning the party returned to London. 

On the evening of the 29th, Mr. John Russell Young, of the 
New York Herald, entertained General Grant at dinner at the 
Grosvenor Hotel, and invited a number of the most prominent 
journalists of London to meet the General on that occasion. 
Mr. George W. Smalley, who was present, thus describes this 
memorable entertainment: 

" General Grant himself — who must by this time rank as an 
expert in such matters — pronounces his dinner with Mr. John 
Russell Young of the New York Herald, at the Grosvenor Hotel 
on Friday, one of the most enjoyable among the many given him 
in London. It has been said that General Grant cherished no 
great affection for journalists as journalists, yet the exceptional 
feature of Mr. Young's dinner was the fact that most of the 
guests were journalists. Perhaps it is only American journalists 
whom General Grant does not like. Nearly all the newspaper 
men present on Friday were, naturally enough, Englishmen. 
You will hardly find their names mentioned in any English 
paper, so close is the veil which English journalism delights to 
throw around the individuals who make it their profession. I 
hope no great harm will be done if I lift a corner of the veil, 
and give you a glimpse of some of the men who help to govern 
Great Britain. 

"I could not begin with a name less known or more worthy 
of being known than that of Thomas Walker, some time editor 
of The Daily News. Possibly he is better known in America 
than here. If fame depended on solid service done, his fame 
ought to be a wide one in America. He it was who put that 
powerful journal on our side in 1861, and kept it there through 



94 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the long period of disaster and discouragement which saw almost 
every other London paper steadily defending the cause of Rebel- 
lion. This act Mr. Walker did against influences which would 
have overborne the judgment of most men — against even the re- 
monstrances of the owners of The Daily News, who feared peril 
to their property from the policy it supported. We can't afford 
to foreet a man who risked and endured so much for us. Gen- 
eral Grant did not forget it, I am glad to say, but when Mr. 
Walker was presented to him, greeted him with a warmth he 
does not always display. For similar reasons something of the 
General's usual reserve disappeared when he shook hands with 
Mr. Frank Hill, the present editor of the same paper, who has 
kept it true to its old traditions of friendship with America. I 
have had to mention Mr. Frank Hill now and then — once as the 
author of that volume of 'Political Portraits' which is one of the 
most brilliant of modern contributions to political literature. His 
is the no less brilliant and solid paper in the last Fortnightly on 
the Due de Brocdie. Not far off sat Mr. Robinson, the manager 
of the same paper, to whose energy and genius for news-gather- 
ing- so much of its recent commercial success is due. Other 
contributors to this great journal were present: Mr. Fraser Rae, 
who you know in America as an excellent writer, and who has 
published books in other departments; Mr. Pigott, once a leader- 
writer, now Censor of Plays in the Lord Chamberlain's Office ; 
Mr. Lucy, who does its Parliamentary summary every night, who 
wrote the famous 'Under the Clock' series for The World (Lon- 
don), and who is now the editor of a weekly paper set up as a 
rival to that, and known as Mayfair—z. very readable collection 
of chat, and of things better than chat. 

"The Times was represented by Mr. MacDonald, its business 
manager for twenty years, and news manager also since the death 
of Mr. Mowbray Morris. To say that a man has held such a 
position as that on the leading journal of the world for such a 
length of time is eulogy enough — not that I mean to occupy my- 
self with eulogy-making on him or anybody else. His colleague,; 
Mr. Stebbing, is a younger man, whose work lies in the editorial 
wing of the paper — if so much may be said without seeking to 



GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 95 

penetrate the profound mystery which envelopes the whole of 
that part of the establishment. Later in the evening came Mr. 
Macdonell, a Times leader-writer, known in newspaper circles for 
the finish and accuracy of his work. Opposite Mr. Frank Hill, 
the editor of The Daily News, sat Mr. Frederick Greenwood, the 
editor of The Pall Mall Gazette, opposed in almost every sense 
and on almost every question of public policy. Of Mr. Green- 
wood, too, I have rather lately been writing with as much free- 
dom as I ought, or more; and of him, too, it may be said that his 
success in making The Pall Mall Gazette what it is, is one of the 
conspicuous facts in modern journalism. Mr. Traill, of the same 
paper, is a man of letters, a student of other literatures beside 
English, whose recent article on Paul Louis Courier I hope every 
American journalist read. The Daily Telegraph is present in the 
person of Mr. Sala, its most versatile and popular correspondent, 
and the writer of its social and many other articles. Mr. Edward 
Dicey was once, and perhaps still is, a contributor to that journal, 
but is now editor in his own right of The Observer, the one 
Sunday paper which ranks by its ability and enterprise with 
the dailies of London, an old paper to which Mr. Dicey has 
brought fresh power and talent enough to give it of late years a 
more important position than it ever had before. He, too, is 
known in America by his own services, and by the fact of having 
married one of the most beautiful and accomplished of American 
women. Mr. Edmund Yates you know, also novelist and jour- 
nalist, now editor of The World, which was the first and is still 
the most widely circulated, and one of the most readable of what 
I have taken the liberty to call Boulevard weeklies. 

" My catalogue is already a long one, but I dare say I have 
omitted some names, and I must at any rate include three Ameri- 
can journalists who were present: Mr. Conway, of whom we are 
all proud; Mr. William Winter, your graceful dramatic critic, and 
Mr. Chamberlain, the promising son of the veteran writer who 
was so long Mr. Greeley's personal friend and political opponent. 
Among the guests who do not belong to the profession were the 
Minister of the United States, and next to him Monsignor Capel, 
a dark-faced man whom, being a born Puritan, I set down as 



96 AROUND THE WORLD. 

having the face of a Jesuit (which I believe he is), but a genial 
and cultivated man, renowned in London as a capital talker. 
Mr. Roscoe Conkling attracts general attention, his personal 
gifts and bearing being at least as conspicuous in an English as 
in an American assembly. 

" Next General Grant, who sits on Mr. Young's right, came Sir 
Joseph Fayrer, an Anglo-Indian of twenty-two years experience, 
who showed perhaps equal courage in the immortal defence 
of Lucknow and in forbidding the Prince of Wales to go to 
Madras. He was the Prince's physician. I use the word ' for- 
bidding,' but what happened was this : The Prince was most 
eager to go; there was cholera, and it was not prudent he should 
go; there was the certainty that his presence would attract an im- 
mense crowd, amidst which the ravages of disease could not but 
be awful. When the Prince pressed the point, Dr. Fayrer 
replied: 'Your Royal Highness will of course do as you like; but 
if you go to Madras, I shall take the first steamer to England.' 
The Prince did not £0 to Madras. The Oueen wrote Dr. 
Fayrer an autograph letter of thanks, and he is to-day Sir 
Joseph Fayrer, K. C. S. I., and F. R. S. also, of which latter title 
he is perhaps most proud. A square-faced man he is, between 
whom and General Grant there are points of ready sympathy, 
and talk goes freely on. General Badeau sits at the other end of 
the upper table; Mr. Macmillan, the eminent publisher, and his 
partner, Mr. Craik; Mr. Norman Lockyer, the war-office clerk 
and astronomer; Mr. Puleston, M. P.; Mr. Payn, Mr. Davis, Mr. 
J. R. Grant are all there; and that man with the clear-cut face, 
whom you might pick out as the descendant of a dozen Earls, but 
who has done his fighting in person instead of through his ances- 
tors, and wears an empty sleeve, is General Fairchild, our Consul 
in Liverpool, and an excellent Consul he is. These, you will 
agree, are the materials of good company and good folk, and 
General Grant's pleasure in the entertainment given him need 
surprise nobody. I might add a good deal about the dinner 
itself, and about the decorations of the rooms, and all that 
contributed to the perfection of the festival. I should even like 
to report some of the talk, were that a permissible liberty to take. 



GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 97 

But one must draw the line somewhere; even a newspaper cor- 
respondent has occasional scruples." 

On the 3d of July, General Grant, who had become the guest 
of General Badeau, received at the residence of the latter a depu- 
tation of forty members representing the workingmen of London 
and manufacturing towns of Great Britain. The deputation pre- 
sented to the General an address from the workingmen of 
the Kingdom, welcoming him to England, and expressing their 
admiration for his character and achievements, and their grati- 
tude for the part taken by his administration in securing the 
representation of labor on the American Commission at the 
Vienna Exhibition. The address was engrossed upon vellum in 
handsome style, and was read by Mr. Guile, a member of the Iron 
Founders' Society. 

General Grant replied in the following words : 

Gentlemen : In the name of my country I thank you for the address you 
have just presented to me. I feel it a great compliment paid to my Government, 
to the former Government, and one to me personally. Since my arrival 
on British soil I have received great attentions, and, as I feel, intended in the 
same way for my country. I have received attentions and have had ovations, 
free hand-shakings, and presentations from different classes, and from the 
Government, and from the controlling authorities of cities, and have been 
received in the cities by the populace. But there is no reception I am prouder 
of than this one to-day. I recognize the fact that whatever there is of greatness 
in the United States, or indeed in any other country, is due to the labor 
performed. The laborer is the author of all greatness and wealth. Without 
labor there would be no government, or no leading class, or nothing to preserve. 
With us labor is regarded as highly respectable. When it is not so regarded it 
is that man dishonors labor. We recognize that labor dishonors no man ; and 
no matter what a man's occupation is he is eligible to fill any post in the gift of 
the people. His occupation is not considered in the selection of him, whether 
as a lawmaker or an executor of the law. Now, gentlemen, in conclusion, all I 
can do is to renew my thanks to you for the address, and to repeat what I have 
said before, that I have received nothing from any class since my arrival on this 
soil which has given me more pleasure." 

On the evening of the 3d General Grant dined with a number 
of officers of the English army and navy at the United Service 
Club. The Duke of Cambridge presided. The dinner was pri- 
vate and informal, and was highly enjoyed by General Grant, as 

7 



gS AROUND THE WORLD. 

it enabled him to meet many of the most distinguished soldiers 
and sailors of Great Britain. 

On the 4th of July Mr. Pierrepont, the American Minister at 
London, held a reception at which General and Mrs. Grant 
were present. Mr. Smalley, of the New York Tribune, thus 
describes it : 

" The Fourth of July was observed in London at the Legation, 
and, so far as I know, at the Legation only. The papers 
announced that the Minister of the United States and Mrs. 
Pierrepont would receive Americans from four to seven in the 
afternoon, General Grant and Mrs. Grant to be present. The 
Americans presented themselves in large numbers. It is the 
season when a good many of our countrymen are in London, on 
their way to the Continent, and not a few such birds of passage 
thronged the rooms of the Legation yesterday afternoon. Of 
resident Americans there were also many — so many that I won't 
undertake to repeat their names. And there was a pretty large 
sidewalk committee outside, attracted by the American flag which 
floated over the doorway, and by the carriages setting down com- 
pany — the latter always a favorite sight with the poor devils who 
spend their days in the streets. Whether because it was the 
great Saints' Day of America, or of any other equally good 
reason, a vast deal of what is called good feeling was shown. A 
degree of cordiality in the greetings between acquaintances 
greater than might be expected when you consider that these 
same people live three-fourths of the year or more in the same 
town and within a few miles of each other, but are seldom on 
intimate terms. There are no dissensions to speak of among 
Americans here (though there have been), but neither is there 
much gregariousness. Patriotism got the upper hand yesterday, 
however. The lion and the lamb took tea together — nay, dined 
together later. Pretty girls abounded. The American girl is 
always pretty, or, at least, always expected by the Briton to be 
pretty. The Briton was not there yesterday to see how many of 
them there were. California contributed its quota ; Boston and 
New York were not unrepresented ; Baltimore sent a belle or 
two, and there were ladies no longer to be called girls who might 



GENERAL GRANT IN LONDON. 99 

have disputed with the best of their younger sisters for the palm 
of beauty. I think I noticed in my fellow-citizens a slight uncer- 
tainty as to the sort of costume that ought to be worn on so 
solemn an occasion. The white tie was prematurely seen — it 
was only five o'clock in the afternoon, and your true Englishman 
never wears it before dinner, and dinner is never before eio-ht — 
and some dress coats covered the manly form. I don't think I 
saw any ladies without bonnets. General Grant arrived a little 
late, and till he came nobody went away, so that the crush in 
Mr. Pierrepont's spacious rooms was for some time considerable. 
General and Mrs. Grant held a levee whether they would or no ; 
their admiring and eager countrymen and countrywomen swarmed 
about them. Once more the General might have fancied himself 
in the White House, judging by the severity of the 'free hand- 
shakings' he underwent. Not a man or a woman of those who 
gathered about him spared him, nor did he flinch ; but we dare 
say he reflected with pleasure that he was going next day to 
countries where handshaking is much less in fashion than here or 
at home. 

"Last of all the General dined, on the evening of the Fourth, 
at the Legation of the United States. The occasion was not 
made a very ceremonious one ; with a single exception, only 
Americans were put on guard that night. The exception was 
Monsignor Capel. The dinner was so far informal and private 
that I hardly know whether I am right in saying anything about it. 
Most of the distinguished Americans known to be passing through 
London were invited, and were present. The list included Sen- 
ator Conkling, Gov. Hendricks, Judge Wallace of the United 
States District Court — the same who lately tried the Emma Mine 
case — the Rev. Phillips Brooks of Boston, and Chancellor Rem- 
sen of New Jersey. Mrs. Grant and Mrs. Pierrepont were the 
only ladies present. General Badeau was in attendance on Gen- 
eral Grant; Mr. J. R. Young and Mr. J. R. Grant were also 
there. The dinner was at 8 p. m., and the guests did not leave 
till past twelve. That, I am aware, is a pale imitation of the 
fashionable style in which such events are announced, but it gives 
the essential facts. I shall even venture to add that for this occa- 



IOO AROUND THE WORLD. 

sion the political hatchet was buried. Nobody, let us hope, will 
accuse Gov. Hendricks of betraying his party, because he sat at 
the table of a Republican Minister. The zealots who will not 
' recognize ' President Hayes can hardly think Gov. Hendricks 
compromised them by putting his legs under Mr. Pierrepont's 
mahogany on the Fourth of July. Nor will Mr. Roscoe Conk- 
ling be supposed to be meditating treason because he chatted 
with the defeated candidate for the Vice-Presidency. As for Mr. 
Pierrepont himself, a vigilant patriot might find cause of suspi- 
cion in the presence of a distinguished Roman ecclesiastic, were 
I not in a position to say that they differed as to the terms on 
which the Government of the United States should be handed 
over to the Pope." 




CHAPTER III. 

GENERAL GRANT'S FIRST VISIT TO THE CONTINENT. 

Departure from London — Arrival at Ostend — Visit to Ghent — Brussels — Description of the City — 
King Leopold visits General Grant — Dinner with the King of the Belgians — General Grant 
at Cologne — Up the Rhine — Coblentz — Weisbaden — Visit to Frankfort — At Homburg — 
Grant at Heidelberg — Baden and the Black Forest — The Journey to Switzerland — 
Lucerne — The Lake of the Four Cantons — At Interlaken — Visit to Berne — Reception by 
the President of the Swiss Republic — Grant at Geneva — Lake Leman — The City of Geneva 
— General Grant Lays the Corner-Stone of a Church — En Route to Mont Blanc — Cha- 
mounix — Mont Blanc — General Grant sets out for Italy — Over the Alps — Martigny — The 
Simplon Pass — General Grant in Italy — Logo Maggiore — Pallanza — The Lake of Como — 
Bellagio — Chiavenna — The Splugen Pass — Via Mala — In Switzerland again — Ragatz — 
The Baths of Pfaffers — The Hot Springs — Zurich — The Lake and City — Visit to Alsace 
and Lorraine — Strasbourg — The Cathedral — The Astronomical Clock — Metz — General 
Grant at Antwerp — His Return to England. 

ITH the Fourth of July festivities, General Grant's first 
visit to London came to an end. The season was over, 
and the people were leaving the city for the seaside and 
the other summer resorts patronized by the English. Dullness was 
settling down upon London, and there was but little to induce the 
General to remain in the Metropolis. He, therefore, resolved to 
spend the remainder of the summer in a brief run to the Conti- 
nent of Europe. Accordingly, on the morning of the 6th of July, 
he left London for Ostend, in Belgium. He was accompanied by 
Mrs. Grant, Jesse Grant and General Badeau. The route was by 
way of Dover, from which a steamer conveyed them across the 
English Channel to the Belgian seaport. Ostend is the finest and 
most frequented bathing resort on the Continent, and is a city of 
18,000 inhabitants. The season begins on the first of June, and 
continues until the 1st of November, during which time Ostend is 
one of the gayest places in Europe. The beach is fine, and the 
bathing superb. The place is only nine hours distant from Lon- 
don, and eight from Paris. Upon reaching Ostend, General 

(IOI) 



102 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Grant was met by an aide-de-camp of the King of the Belgians, 
who welcomed him to Belgium in the name of his sovereign, and 
placed the royal car at his disposal for the journey to Brussels. 
The General accepted the offer. The civil authorities of Ostend 
and the officers of the garrison then waited upon the General, and 
presented him with an address of congratulation. 

The General and his party passed the night at Ostend, and 
the next morning set out by rail for Brussels. At the ancient 
city of Ghent a halt was made. Accompanied by the American 
Consul at that place, the General and his party visited the prin- 
cipal points of interest in the city. Ghent is situated at the 
junction of the rivers Scheldt and Lys, and contains 123,000 in- 
habitants. It is one of the most interesting cities in the world, 
and is rich in historical associations. When the Emperor Charles 
V. came to the throne, Ghent was regarded as the largest city 
of Western Europe, having at that time a population of over 
200,000 inhabitants, and being at the height of its commercial 
prosperity. It sided with Francis I. in his quarrel with the 
Emperor, and being compelled to submit to the latter, was 
stripped of its most valuable privileges, and was subjected to 
heavy exactions, which effectually destroyed its prosperity. It is 
surrounded by walls, the circumference of which is between seven 
and eight miles, and is divided into numerous islands by the 
Scheldt and Lys, which are nearly all lined by handsome quays. 
It contains over seventy bridges, many of which are notable 
structures. Its streets are wide and well laid off, and its houses, 
though old-fashioned, are handsome. Although it is now a 
thriving and busy place, it still wears the aspect of the Middle 
Ages. One of its most famous objects is the turreted gateway, 
which was formerly a part of the castle in which John of Gaunt, 
son of Edward III., of England, was born. A rare relic is the 
Cathedral of St. Bavon, founded in a. d. 941. The exterior is 
plain, but the interior is rich and beautiful, one of its orna- 
ments being the arms of the Knights of the Golden Fleece, 
which are placed over the Choir. The last Chapter of this Order 
held here was in 1559, and was presided over by Philip II., of 
Spain. The church is rich in valuable paintings. The General 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. IO3 

and his party also visited the famous Belfry Tower, which is 
situated near the Cathedral, and dates from 1183. On its sum- 
mit is a copper dragon which was captured from the city of 
Bruges in 1445. It was formerly used as a watch-tower, and its 
bell was used to warn the citizens of the approach of an enemy 
and to call the citizens to arms. The lower part is now a prison. 
Ghent was the birthplace of many famous men, among whom 
were John of Gaunt, Charles V., and Jacques Van Arteveldt, the 
"Brewer of Ghent," and his no less famous son, Philip. To the 
American it is interesting as the city in which the Treaty which 
closed the second war between the United States and England 
was signed, in 181 5. The city is now extensively engaged, its 
principal products being linen, woollen, lace and silk goods, 
leather and beer. 

The journey to Brussels was resumed in the afternoon, and at 
six o'clock on the evening of Friday, July 6th, the Belgian capital 
was reached. 

Brussels is one of the most famous cities of Europe, and is 
often called the "Little Paris," because of its splendid appearance. 
It is situated on the river Senne, about fifty miles from the sea, 
and has about 328,000 inhabitants. It was formerly enclosed 
with strong fortifications, but these have been demolished, and 
their site is now occupied by a succession of splendid boulevards, 
planted with noble linden trees. It is divided into an upper and 
lower town. The former contains the royal palace, the state 
buildings, the theatres, hotels, and chief attractions of the city; 
the latter is plain in appearance, and is the home of the working 
classes, but still contains many striking edifices, which were once 
the sumptuous homes of the nobles of Brabant. The Hotel de 
Ville stands in this quarter. 

The appearance of Brussels is brilliant and splendid. Its 
streets, in the newer sections of the city, are wide, well paved, 
and brightly lighted. "Four beautiful streets surround the park, 
or palace garden, any of which is difficult to surpass in any city 
in Europe, but the tout ensemble of the whole is truly charming. 
The Rue Bellevue, containing the King's palace; the Rue Ducale, 
in which are the palace of the Prince of Orange (the late King 



104 AROUND THE WORLD. 

of Holland), and the grand concert- room ; the Rue Brabant, in 
the centre of which are the Houses of Parliament; and the Rue 
Royale, on which are situated the finest mansions in Brussels; 
the general appearance of the whole is similar to the surround- 
ings of Place la Concorde, in Paris, on a small scale; in fact, the 
whole city, opera house, theatres, squares, restaurants, and cafes, 
is a miniature Paris. 

"One of the principal squares is the Place des Martyres. It is 
planted with linden trees and is surrounded by elegant buildings 
in the Doric style; it was chosen as the sepulture for those who 
fell in the revolutionary struggle of 1830; a monument has been 
erected over their graves; it consists of a marble statue of Lib- 
erty, with a genius kneeling at each corner of the pedestal. 
Geefs was the artist. 

" In the Place de la Monnaie are situated the Mint, Exchange, 
and Theatre, with the principal cafes in the city. The principal 
and most frequented streets, and those in which are situated the 
most elegant shops, are Rue Montague de la Cour and Rue de 
la Madelaine. Of the public buildings that surround the Park, 
the first in order is the Royal Palace, at the southern extremity. 
Its general aspect is plain and unassuming ; its interior is very 
magnificently furnished in the usual style of European palaces, 
but contains few pictures of any great value, with the exception 
of a few by Vandyke and David. 

" On the east side of the Park is the Palace, which before the 
Revolution of 1830 was occupied by the Prince of Orange; it 
was presented to the Prince by the city of Brussels ; it is a beau- 
tiful building 240 feet in length, with a central dome and cupola. 
The paintings it formerly contained were of the highest order, 
comprising some of the most choice productions of the Flemish 
and Italian schools ; all of them, however, with the magnificent 
furniture the Palace contained, have been sold. Many were 
bought by the city, and may be seen in the museum in the Old 
Palace. 

" On the north end of the Park the House of Parliament is 
situated. It is a noble building, ornamented with fluted Doric 
columns ; it was built by Maria Theresa. The two chambers of 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. IO5 

Parliament are elegantly fitted up for the reception of the mem- 
bers. Males and females are admitted into both chambers during 
the debates. It contains several very splendid pictures. 

" Near the Place Royale is situated the handsome Old Palace. 
It was formerly the residence of the Spanish and Austrian gov- 
ernors of the Low Countries, or Netherlands, and was at that 
time one of the richest palaces in Europe. It was built in 1 300, 
and rebuilt in 1 746. It now contains museums, public libraries, 
galleries of painting and sculpture, and lecture-room. 

" The Old Court, or Palace of the Fine Arts, is divided into 
three departments. The first contains the paintings of the great 
Flemish masters, from Van Eyck to Rubens, and their numerous 
pupils ; the second contains a splendid library of 200,000 volumes 
and 20,000 manuscripts- — many of the latter were collected at a 
very early period by the Dukes of Burgundy, and are of great 
value; the third is the museum of natural history, which is in 
the lower story, and surpasses in extent and value every other in 
the kingdom." 

Brussels is rich in churches, many of which date from the 
Middle Ages. The .principal one is the Cathedral of St. Gudule, 
which was founded in 1010. Its front is richly ornamented, and 
is flanked by two large towers, from the top of which Antwerp 
can be distinctly seen. The stained glass windows of this church 
are among the most beautiful in the world. The principal win- 
dow represents " The Last Judgment," and is the work of the 
Flemish artist Frans Florins. 

Of the many handsome fountains which ornament the city, the 
most celebrated is the " Mannikin," which stands near the Hotel 
de Ville. " The ' Mannikin ' is considered the oldest citizen of 
Brussels. It is an exquisite bronze figure, about two feet high, 
of an urchin boy who discharges a stream of water in a natural 
manner. Great value and historical interest are attached to this 
antique little figure by the old citizens of Brussels, who regard it 
with peculiar solicitude as a kind of municipal palladium. Tradi- 
tion invests him with an importance which is exhibited on fete 
days ; he is then dressed in uniform, and decorated with the 
order of St. Louis." 



106 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Brussels is rich in historical interest, having been the scene of 
many of the most memorable events in the history of the Low 
Countries. It is now extensively engaged in the manufacture of 
lace, carpets, hosiery, linen, cotton prints, and other goods. The 
language spoken is French. 

One of General Grant's first acts, after arriving at Brussels, 
was to visit Mr. A. P. Merrill, the American Minister, who was 
confined to his bed by illness. 

On the 7th, the General and his party visited the sights of the 
city, among them the Hotel de Ville, a beautiful structure, founded 
in 1400, and celebrated as one of the most perfect specimens of 
Gothic architecture in the world. It abounds in exquisite and 
quaint sculptures, and is surmounted by a pyramidal tower 368 
feet in height. The General and his companions were received 
by the municipal authorities, and were shown through the build- 
ing. Among the objects of interest exhibited was the Golden 
Book, which contains the signatures of famous visitors to the 
place for generations back. The General, at the request of the 
authorities, inscribed his name in this volume. On the same day 
the General received a call at his hotel from King Leopold. 
They had a long and interesting conversation, and separated 
mutually pleased with each other. On the 8th General and Mrs. 
Grant returned the call of the King at the palace. In the evening 
the King entertained the General at a banquet, at which a bril- 
liant company was present. Besides General and Mrs. Grant 
and their son, the following Americans were present : the family 
of Minister Merrill, General Badeau, and General and Mrs. 
Sandford. During the evening the General and the King- con- 
versed freely, and the latter found his royal host well versed in 
American affairs, and very anxious to promote the establishment 
of steamship lines between Antwerp and the ports of the United 
States. 

On Monday morning, July 9th, General Grant left Brussels for 
Cologne, travelling in the royal railway carriage, which the King 
had placed at his disposal. The distance from Brussels to 
Cologne is one hundred and forty-one miles, and the route 
lies through a charming and deeply interesting region. " The 




MARKET-PLACE AT LIEGE, BELGIUM. 



>7) 



IOS AROUND THE WORLD. 

railway runs almost eastward through the level garden-land of 
Belgium, and passes several famous places. Every town has its 
church, many of them large and imposing, with their towers and 
spires reaching far above the surrounding buildings, and seen 
from afar as the railway enters and leaves them. Liege, with its 
coal-mines, iron-mills, and overhanging streams of smoke, looks 
like a sort of Pittsburgh. But cannon and firearms, cutlery, rails, 
and metal-work are not the only things to be seen in this fine 
old city. It has its Cathedral and its historical buildings ; and 
here was the house of William de la Marck, of whom Sir Walter 
Scott wrote, whilst the principal scenes of his novel of ' Ouentin 
Durward' are laid in Liege. The city is beautifully situated, the 
almost prairie-like appearance of the country west of Liege sud- 
denly changing to a rolling surface as the city is approached, and 
giving it, despite the smoke, an attractive look. Crossing the 
river Meuse, the railway continues eastward through a beautiful 
country, winding in and out among the hills, rushing through 
tunnels and over and along pebbly brooks, and among the iron- 
mills and coal-mines that in scenery and surroundings make this 
portion of Belgium resemble portions of Westmoreland County 
in Pennsylvania. Among the bold rocks and precipitous hills 
there nestled frequent pretty valleys, where little villages and 
oreen fields set off the ru^ed hill-sides. In this sort of a coun- 
try is located the famous watering-place of Spa, where eight dif- 
ferent mineral springs are reputed to be a cure for almost all 
diseases, and attract crowds of invalids and idlers who want to 
drink or bathe in the waters, or else make believe they do. Here 
in former days were famous gambling establishments, carried on 
by the sanction of the Government and giving it half their profits, 
but public opinion six years ago forced their suppression. Then 
we pass Verviers, beyond which the Belgian Railway control 
ceases, and the German trains take us with their luxurious car- 
riages, and thus as we go along the French gradually dissolves 
into the German, and the quick, restless speech and movement 
of the Gaul is changed for the slower and more ceremonious 
manners of the Teuton. At Herbesthal, on the frontier, the 
German Custom-House is located, but the revenue officers, in- 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. IO9 

stead of compelling everybody to get out of the train with their 
bags, adopted the more comfortable system of visiting the pas- 
sengers in the carriages. This formal ceremony over, the train 
was started by blowing a horn and ringing a bell, and sounding 
with due deliberation several whistles, on the road to Aix-la- 
Chapelle, or Aachen. 

"Aix-la- Chapelle is, historically, one of the most famous cities 
in Germany. Here the founder of the Empire, Charlemagne, 
was born and died, and he gave it, more than a thousand years 
ago, its first great eminence. Here, his successors, for centuries, 
on the throne of Germany, were crowned, and took the oaths of 
office, not, as with us, by swearing upon the Bible, or as in Eng- 
land by sitting upon the old stone of Scone in the high-backed 
coronation chair in Westminster Abbey, but by swearing upon 
the famous Charlemagne relics — the lock of the Virgin's hair 
and a piece of the true cross, which he wore round his neck, the 
leathern girdle of Christ, the bones of St. Stephen, the cord 
which bound the rod which smote the Saviour, the fragment of 
Aaron's rod, and the bone of Charlemagne's arm — all of which 
are now kept with jealous care in the Cathedral, and exhibited 
for an adequate ' tip.' Here, also, the Cathedral contains other 
precious relics, but they are only exhibited once in seven years, 
and the next period will not come around until 1881, when hun- 
dreds of thousands of pious pilgrims will journey thither to see 
them. These relics were presented to Charlemagne in the days 
of the Crusades, by the Grand Patriarch of Jerusalem, and they 
include the swaddling-clothes in which the Saviour was wrapped, 
the scarf he wore at the Crucifixion, the robe worn by the Virgin 
at the Nativity, and the cloth on which the head of John the 
Baptist was laid. These, with some costly gems, are deposited 
in a silver vase of great value, and are only exposed to view, as 
I have said, once in seven years, and then with great ceremony. 
The Cathedral is one of the great churches of Germany, but the 
fame of its relics almost eclipses the fame of the church. Char- 
lemagne's tomb is under the centre of the dome, a simple slab 
of marble bearing his name marking the spot. Aix-la-Chapelle, 
like Spa, is also a watering-place, its springs, which are strongly 



I I O AROUND THE WORLD. 

impregnated with sulphur, attracting many visitors, but it has not 
in this respect secured the great fame of its neighbor Spa. The 
surrounding country is of great beauty, not so rugged as that 
near Liege, but rich in agricultural wealth, and having here and 
there a round-topped hill raised up generally with a church or a 
chateau on top, to vary the attractions of the landscape. The 
villages, around which so many legends cluster, are now the 
location of matter-of-fact factories and iron-works, giving evi- 
dence of busy industry, some of these establishments being of 
great size, with small mountains of slag outlying them. Then 
the country again flattened into an almost treeless prairie, and 
for miles before reaching Cologne was more like a section of 
Illinois than anything else it can be compared to. There was 
not a hedge or a fence to mar the symmetry of the broad ex- 
panse of agricultural land which both men and women were 
busily cultivating. Finally, as the train approached Cologne, 
the tall Cathedral could be seen for miles away reaching far 
above the houses ; and passing through the massive fortifications 
and over the drawbridge, the train entered the station." 

Cologne contains a population of 1 29,25 1 inhabitants, and a gar- 
rison of 7,000 men. Its suburb Deutz, which is connected with it 
by an iron bridge and a bridge of boats, has 11,881 inhabitants, 
thus making the entire population 148,132. Cologne is the third 
city of the German Empire, and lies along the Rhine in the shape 
of a crescent. It is strongly fortified, its outer wall forming a cir- 
cuit of nearly seven miles. It was founded by Agrippina, 
daughter of the Roman Emperor Germanicus, about a. d. 50. 
It was called " Colonia Agrippiensis," from which the modern 
name Cologne is derived. Constantine the Great began a bridge 
here, and Clovis, King of the Franks, was crowned here. During 
the Middle Ages, Cologne was one of the most populous and 
important cities of Europe. It is now the chief town of the 
Rhenish province of Prussia, and is busily engaged in manu- 
factures. One of its principal and most famous products is Eau 
de Cologne, which is exported in large quantities. 

General Grant was met upon his arrival in the city by the civil 
and military authorities of the place, and was cordially welcomed 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. Ill 

by them to Cologne. He then visited the prominent places of 
interest in the city, including the Cathedral and the bridge 
of boats. 

The Cathedral is the chief attraction of Cologne to visitors. 
It is one of the most beautiful specimens of Gothic architecture, 
and is dedicated to St. Peter. It is next to St. Peter's at Rome, 
the largest church in the world. It was begun in 1248, and 
is still unfinished, though the Prussian Government is now taking 
measures for its early completion. The choir is very rich in 
statues and frescoes, and the church contains a number of fine 
paintings and stained glass windows. The chief relic of the 
church is kept in a chapel behind the high altar, called the Chapel 
of the Magi, or the three Kings of Cologne. It is a silver vase, 
which contains, according to the belief of the faithful, the skulls of 
the three wise men who brought gifts to the Infant Saviour at 
Bethlehem. The case is richly ornamented with gems, the skulls 
are crowned with diamonds, and the name of each is traced upon 
it in rubies. 

Another of the famous sights of Cologne is the Church of 
St. Ursula. This saint is said by the tradition to have been a 
daughter of the King of Brittany. She started on a pilgrimage 
to Rome, accompanied by 11,000 virgins. They sailed up the 
Rhine as far as Basle, from which place they made the rest of the 
journey on foot. Reaching Rome they were received with great 
honor by the Pope. On their return the whole party was mas- 
sacred by the Huns because they refused to break their vows of 
chastity. Their bones were collected and buried on the site of 
the present church, which is eight hundred and fifty years old. 
Subsequently the bones were exhumed and placed around the in- 
terior of the church as ornaments. "The church is not very 
large, and its heavy walls, low ceilings, and ancient style of con- 
struction show its antiquity. All around this church are encased 
the skulls and bones, large stone receptacles being filled with 
them, with apertures in the sides through which the bones can be 
seen, and the skulls being put on rows of little shelves divided off 
like pigeon-holes. All the skulls have the part below the fore- 
head covered with needle-work and embroidery, and some of 



I 1 2 AROUND THE WORLD. 

them are inlaid with pearls and precious stones. The collection is 
certainly a remarkable one, there being, besides the collections of 
bones, eighteen hundred of these skulls arranged in cases around 
the church, whilst in an apartment known as the Treasury, which is 
about thirty feet square, there are seven hundred and thirty-two 
more skulls on the walls, and the entire upper part is covered 
with bones, which are arranged everywhere, excepting where the 
windows let in light. Here, under special glass cases, are the 
skulls of St. Ursula herself, her lover, and several of the principal 
virgins." 

On the morning of the ioth General Grant and his party em- 
barked in one of the little steamers navigating the Rhine, and 
ascended that river as far as Coblentz. The voyage was de- 
lightful, the travellers passing the university town of Bonn, and 
enjoying fine views of the Siebengeberge and the Drachenfels, 
the scene of Siegfried's fight with and victory over the dragon, 
whose blood made him invulnerable. Rolandseck, with its ruined 
castle and the island of Nonnenworth, with its nunnery, or 
" kloster," reminding the traveller of the sad legend of Roland 
and Hildegunde, were passed, and in the afternoon the travellers 
entered the magnificent region lying below Coblentz. 

"The river, sweeping grandly around to the right, discloses on 
the left hand the towering rock of Ehrenbreitstein, one of the 
greatest fortresses of Europe. This fort is on a broad-topped 
and almost isolated rock, four hundred feet high, whose precipi- 
tous sides are covered with a maze of batteries and fortifications, 
towers, drawbridges, and galleries, the prominent feature being 
a long flight of steps running up the river side of the rock, and 
a gradually ascending roadway which passes around it and 
enters the top on the land side. It presents every outward in- 
dication of the impregnability for which it is so famous; and, 
though often besieged, it has only been captured twice, first by 
stratagem and afterwards by starvation, never by actual force. 
Over it floats the German flag, in token of the Kaiser's mastery 
of the Rhine, which skill and Ehrenbreitstein give him. Five 
thousand men are sufficient to man this great fortress, but it will 
accommodate one hundred thousand, and can store ten years' 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. II 3 

provisions for eight thousand men in its capacious magazines, 
which at present contain fifty thousand needle-guns. The Rhine 
and Moselle at this point fairly bristle with fortifications. All the 
hills near the great work are covered with batteries, whilst the 
row of hotels on the river-bank, which is what the traveller first 
sees of Coblentz, is protected by water-batteries and towers, and 
on back, front, sides, and far away in the inland hills cannon 
bristle, and the gray stone facings of the earthworks show that 
the place is to be held with a strong hand." 

The balance of the day and the night were passed at Coblentz, 
which town is situated between the rivers Rhine and Moselle. 
It is triangular in shape, is defended by powerful fortifications, 
and is the bulwark of Germany. The town is beautifully situ- 
ated, and possesses many attractions for visitors. There are two 
bridges over the Rhine at this point, one of boats, and the other 
of iron for railways. The population is about 25,000. 

On the 11th General Grant visited Weisbaden, one of the 
most beautiful and famous watering-places on the Continent ; 
and on the 1 2th went to Frankfort, where he was met by a 
committee of ten gentlemen, representing the American citizens 
of the place, and conducted to the Hotel de Russie. In the 
evening he was entertained by his fellow-countrymen in Frank- 
fort at dinner in the celebrated Palmer Garten, one hundred and 
fifty gentlemen being present on the occasion. After dinner he 
strolled through the gardens, which were densely crowded by 
persons who were anxious to see him. 

Frankfort is said to be the richest city of its size in the world. 
It is intimately connected with the United States by its financial 
transactions. Its aggregate banking capital is estimated at more 
than $200,000,000, of which the Rothschilds control more than 
one-fourth. It boasts one hundred citizens who are worth from 
four to five million dollars each, and two hundred and fifty who 
are worth a million and upward. Frankfort dates from the time 
of Charlemagne, and was long the place where the German em- 
perors were chosen. After the fall of Napoleon I. it was one of 
the four free cities of Germany until 1866, when it was taken by 
the Prussians. It contains 103,231 inhabitants, and lies on the 



I 1 4 AROUND THE WORLD. 

right bank of the river Main. It is the birth-place of the founder 
of the Rothschilds family, and the house in which the great 
banker was born is one of the sights of the city. It is located in 
the famous Judengasse, or Jews' Street. The city presents a 
handsome and busy appearance, which is in keeping with its 
reputation for wealth. 

On the 13th the General and his party made an excursion to 
Homburg, a noted watering-place, where he was received by a 
committee of Americans, headed by ex-Governor Ward, of New 
Jersey. This was formerly one of the most noted gambling 
places in Europe, but in 1872 gaming was suppressed by law. 
The General and his companions, after seeing the sights of Hom- 
burg, drove to Salburg, near which is a celebrated Roman camp, 
which is carefully preserved by the Prussian Government. The 
General was received by the officers in charge of it, who caused 
the grave of a Roman soldier, who had been dead for over 
eighteen hundred years, to be opened. Returning to Homburg, 
the General dined with his American friends, and spent the bal- 
ance of the evening in strolling through the beautiful gardens of 
the Kursaal, which were brilliantly illuminated in his honor. At 
eleven o'clock p. m. the party took the cars for Frankfort. On 
the 14th some of the noted wine-cellars of Frankfort were vis- 
ited, and there was a dinner in the Zoological Gardens. 

On Sunday morning, July 15th, the General and his party pro 
ceeded from Frankfort to Heidelberg, the interesting capital of 
the old Palatinate. Heidelberg is beautifully situated on the right 
bank of the Neckar, and owes its celebrity to its castle, which was 
the residence of the Electors Palatine, its University, which 
is, next to that of Prague, the oldest in Europe, and to the impor- 
tant part it has played in the history of Germany. It has been 
bombarded five times, laid in ashes twice, and three times sacked 
by a victorious army. It is now a part of the Grand Duchy of 
Baden, and contains 20,100 inhabitants. The castle stands on the 
side of a hill, high over the town, and is one of the most magnifi- 
cent ruins in the world. It was founded by the Elector Rudolph, 
who designed it to be a fortress as well as a palace. It was 
added to by other electors, and its architecture shows the styles 




("5) 



I 1 6 AROUND THE WORLD. 

of several centuries. It suffered greatly during the Thirty Years' 
War, and still more during the ravaging of the Palatinate. In 
1 689 it was blown up by the French, in violation of their agree- 
ment to respect it, and in 1 693 they again attempted its destruc- 
tion, and also massacred the inhabitants of the town. In 1764 it 
was struck by lightning and still further demolished, since which 
time it has been roofless. The portions which remain tell of the 
former grandeur and strength of the noble edifice. In the cellars 
of the castle is the famous Heidelberg Tun, an immense cask of 
oak, constructed in 1 75 1, and capable of holding 300,000 bottles 
of wine. 

From Heidelberg General Grant went to Baden-Baden, one 
of the most noted as well as the most beautiful of the continental 
watering-places. A brief and pleasant stay was made here, and 
the famous Black Forest was visited, after which the party pro- 
ceeded to Switzerland. 

The route travelled by the General and his party lay through 
Basle, Lucerne, Interlaken and Berne, to Geneva. But a brief 
halt was made at Basle, which lies on both sides of the Rhine, 
and in full view of the Black Forest and the Jura. It is one of 
the principal entrances to Switzerland, and contains 44,834 
inhabitants. The population is rapidly increasing. It is a pic- 
turesque and deeply interesting town, containing many monu- 
ments of the Middle Ages, and a university, which is the oldest 
of the great Swiss schools. 

From Basle the General and his party proceeded direct to 
Lucerne, travelling by the Central Swiss Railway, which was 
built by the celebrated English engineer, the late Thomas Brassey. 
The route runs through a beautiful portion of Switzerland, cross- 
ing soon after leaving Basle the famous battle-field of St. Jacob, 
where, on the 26th of August, 1444, 1,500 Swiss defeated a pow- 
erful French army commanded by the Dauphin Louis. As the 
train speeds onward, distant views of the great chain of the Alps, 
and of the Bernese Alps, are obtained. After passing Olten the 
scenery immediately along the route becomes tame, but the dis- 
tant mountains attain an indescribable grandeur which keeps the 
traveller constantly on the watch lest he should lose some new 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. II7 

beauty. The battle-field of Sempach, where the Swiss patriot 
Arnold Von Winkelreid opened a way for his country's triumph, 
by the sacrifice of his own life, is passed, and soon the Rigi looms 
up on the left, while on the right the dark, gloomy mass of 
Pilatus towers overhead. A little later the green and limpid 





stream of the Reuss is reached, and shortly after the train draws 
up in the station at Lucerne. 

Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of the same name, and 
lies on both banks of the river Reuss, at the point where it rushes 
out of the Lake of Lucerne. It contains 17,000 inhabitants, and 
is one of the most delightful cities of Switzerland. " It is still 
surrounded by its old wall on the land side, and is noted not so 



I 1 8 AROUND THE WORLD. 

much for its trade and manufactures as for the exquisite beauty 
and grandeur of the surrounding scenery, the Lake of Lucerne 
having*- been from time immemorial acknowledged the most 
beautiful of all the Swiss lakes." The city is well built, and 
contains a number of interesting edifices. Its principal sight is 
the Lion of Lticeme, which was designed by the great sculptor 
Thorwaldsen, nearly sixty years ago. It is colossal in size, being 
twenty-eight feet long by eighteen feet wide, and is cut out of 
the solid sandstone in high relief, on the rocky side of a hill. It 
is designed to commemorate the heroism of the Swiss Guards of 
Louis XVI., of France, who were slain in the defence of the 
Tuileries in 1792. 

Another interesting building is the Arsenal, now used as alight- 
house. It stands in the middle of the river at the point where it 
leaves the lake, and contains many trophies won by Swiss valor, 
as well as the arms for the forces of the Canton. The archives 
of the town have been deposited here for safe-keeping from time 
immemorial. 

General Grant and his party were received with distinguished 
honor by the authorities and people of Lucerne, who exerted 
themselves to make their visit a pleasant one. 

A sail upon the lake formed one of the pleasures of the visit. 
"The Lake of the Four Cantons is celebrated as not only being 
superior to all others in Switzerland in beautiful scenery, but also 
in historical attractions, its banks having been the early cradle of 
the Swiss Republic and the home of Tell. It is bounded by the 
four famous cantons of Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, and Lucerne, 
and the mountain peaks surrounding it give it the form of a St. 
Andrew's cross, from which comes that cross on the Swiss flag. 
Lucerne stands at the head of the cross, Uri at the foot, and Alp- 
nach and Kussnach at the extremities of the arms. It may be 
imagined that such a lake formation when made by mountain 
peaks and ridges would give views of great magnificence, especi- 
ally as through all the openings there is seen a broad expanse of 
water and other peaks beyond. The giant guardians of the lake, 
Pilatus and Rigi, stand, as it were, as the sentinels upon the out- 
posts of the Alps, raising up their massive forms on the northern 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. I 1 9 

verge of the famous range, and looking out upon the compara- 
tively level plain to the northward. As the lake proceeds south- 
ward peak after peak surrounds it, and the long L-shaped exten- 
sion from the foot of the cross is gradually closed in by higher 
and higher mountains, until it terminates at Fluelen, the begin- 
ning of the St. Gothard Pass over the Alps. Steamboat routes run 
in all directions over this famous lake, for it is the Mecca of most 
Alpine tourists. Little Swiss cottages are dotted all along its 
edges, the homes of lovers of the beautiful who can afford to 
live here, Hundreds of thousands of all nations come here 
every year and enjoy the fresh air, the fine views, the cloud and 
storm and sunshine that are all seen to perfection in this elevated 
region, for the lake is about fifteen hundred feet above the sea, 
and discuss the problem which the lake and its neighborhood 
always suggests — did Tell shoot the apple from his son's head ? 
One of the most magnificent scenes in nature is that selected by 
the Swiss for the building, near the water's edge, on the eastern 
border of the lake, of Tell's Chapel, erected in 1388, thirty-one 
years after his death, to commemorate his career. Here Tell 
leaped on shore from Gesler's boat, when being taken to prison, 
and escaped up the mountain, and during Easter-time this chapel 
is the scene of commemoration services by pilgrims from all 
parts of the country, who come in a picturesque procession of 
boats. Whether America believes in Tell or not, the Swiss do. 
He is their Washington, and reverence for him is a national char- 
acteristic. At Zurich they have the very cross-bow with which 
he shot the apple, and they would probably have the apple too, 
had it not succumbed to the laws of nature. The Swiss tolerate 
no doubters about Tell and his career. Sixty years ago it was 
boldly attempted by various skeptics at Berne to circulate a book 
which argued that the apple tradition was a myth, whereupon the 
people around this lake invoked the aid of the authorities, and 
the Four Cantons making formal complaint to the Government, 
all the copies of the book were collected and publicly burnt. 
The book perished forever, and no doubters have since dared 
raise their voices against Tell in Switzerland." 

From Lucerne the General and party proceeded to Interlaken. 



120 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Embarking on Lake Lucerne, a sail of an hour brought them to 
Alpnach-Gastad, where the diligence was taken to Brienz. The 
scenery is very beautiful along this route, but quieter and more 
peaceful than is usually the case in the Alpine region. Near 
Lugern the road climbs a steep hill, from which the finest and 
boldest view is obtained down the valley of Sarnen backed by 
Pilatus, with the Lugern See in the foreground. Beyond the 
brow of the hill the valley of Hash, and the snow-white crests of 
the Wetterhorn, Eiger, and other Bernese Alps, open on the 
traveller. Brienz, at head of the lake of the same name, is 
reached in about nine hours from Lucerne. Here a steamer is 
taken for Interlaken, the distance being about nine miles. "The 
Lake of Brienz is regarded by some persons as the most beauti- 
ful of the lakes of Switzerland, although its whole length is but 
seven and a half miles. The width of Lake Brienz is about two 
and a quarter miles, whilst its depth varies from five hundred to 
two thousand feet. Its banks are surrounded by lofty wooded 
mountains and rocks, the outcroppings of which would indicate 
that they are either white marble or limestone. They tower up 
so perpendicularly from the lake that there is very little cultiva- 
tion except close down to the water's edge, where a few small 
towns are located, which are the termini of various passes through 
the mountains, and are mostly peopled by those connected with 
the diligences. There are, however, numerous hotels in the 
gorges, where tourists who spend the summer here stop for a 
day or two for change of scene and to explore the mountains. 
To the southeast in the background is the snow-clad mountain 
of Sussen, and to the left the Trifterhorn. The view of the mag- 
nificent mountain scenery from the steamer is very imposing, 
there being a solemnity in moving along under the shadow of 
these towering rocks on the quiet waters of the lake." 

Interlaken, as its name would imply, lies between two lakes — 
those of Brienz and Thun — nestling in the Valley of the Aar. 
It has few sights apart from its hotels, but these are on a grand 
scale, and are thronged with representatives of every nation and 
tongue under heaven. Its chief charm is its beautiful location, 
on a little plain between the lakes, in full view of the Jungfrau, 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. 121 

whose snowy summit is seen through a gap in the minor chain. 
Delightful excursions may be made from Interlaken to many of 
the most noted places in Switzerland. 

Travelling leisurely, and enjoying the beauties of the journey, 
General Grant rested awhile at Interlaken, and on the 24th of 
July left that place for Berne. The first stage of the journey was 
made by the steamer on the Lake of Thun. This beautiful sheet 
of water is eleven miles long, two miles wide, and has a maxi- 
mum depth of 768 feet. It lies 1,775 f eet above the level of the 
sea. It is subject to sudden and violent storms, which render its 
navigation to some extent dangerous. A pleasant sail of an 
hour and three-quarters brought the travellers to the picturesque 
old town of Thun, at the western end of the lake. Here the cars 
were once more taken, and in a little more than an hour the 
General and his party were set down in the station at Berne, 
from which they proceeded to their hotel. 

Berne is the capital of the second in size, and the most popu- 
lous, of the Swiss Cantons. It is also the permanent seat of the 
Swiss Government and Diet, and the residence of most of the 
foreign ministers. It contains about 40,000 inhabitants. "Berne 
is a quaint old town, being rapidly modernized by its active and 
energetic population. The city is built upon a peninsula formed 
by the windings of the beautiful river Aar, which flows rapidly, 
furnishing an abundance of water-power for various mills, many 
of which are driven by the mere force of its current. Of all the 
cities of Switzerland, Berne most closely adheres to its traditions 
and its ancient peculiarities. Fountains are as numerous here as 
in Rome, and their adornments are quaint and very singular. 
The most striking is the Fountain of the Ogre, in the Corn Hall 
Square, which is surmounted by a grotesque traditional figure in 
the act of devouring a child, while a dozen others, chubby and 
jolly-looking urchins, doomed to the same fate, protrude from his 
pockets and girdle ; beneath is a troop of armed bears. The 
bear is the heraldic emblem of Berne, which signifies bruin in 
German, and is a constantly-recurring subject. On a neighboring 
public building bruin appears equipped with shield, banner, and 
helmet. Two gigantic bears, tolerably executed in granite, keep 



122 AROUND THE WORLD. 

guard over the pillars of the upper gate ; others support a shield 
in the pediment of the Corn Hall, and a whole troupe of auto- 
matic bears go through a performance at the clock-tower every 
hour in the day. At three minutes before the close of the hour 
a wooden cock gives the signal by clapping his wings and crow- 
ing; one minute later a half-dozen automatic bears dance around. 
a seated figure with crown and sceptre ; the cock then repeats its 
signal, and when the hour strikes, the seated figure, an old man 
with a beard, turns an hour-glass and counts the hour by raising 
his sceptre and opening his mouth, while the bear on his right 
inclines his head; a grotesque figure strikes the hour on a bell 
with a hammer, and the cock concludes the performance by flap- 
ping his wings and crowing for the third time. All strangers 
visit the clock-tower, and the people take great pride in it. 

"But this peculiarity in regard to bears, although traditional 
and emblazoned in stone, is still religiously preserved by the peo- 
ple. The ancient Egyptians had not a greater veneration for the 
ibis, or the modern Venetians for the pigeon, than the Bernese 
have for the bear. A bears' den, with four venerable animals and 
their cubs in state, is kept in the city at the public expense, 
according to immemorial usage, and great is the amusement they 
afford by their cumbrous gambols. They are under the special 
protection of the law, which forbids the public from making them 
any offerings except bread or fruit, so great is the solicitude for 
their health. On the night of the 3d of March, 1861, an English 
officer fell into one of the public dens, and was torn to pieces by 
the male bear, after a long and desperate struggle." 

The town has this peculiarity, that almost all the houses rest 
upon arcades, which form covered walks, and are lined with shops 
and stalls like " the Rows " in Chester, in England. The lowness 
of the arches, and the solidity of the buttresses supporting them, 
render these colonnades gloomy and close. 

On the morning of the 25th of July, General Grant was formally 
received by the President of the Swiss Confederation, who cor- 
dially welcomed him to Switzerland, and expressed the good 
wishes of the nation for his future happiness. General Grant 
replied in appropriate terms. 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. I 23 

On the morning of the 26th, General Grant and party left 
Berne for Geneva. The most interesting portion of this journey 
was the sail from Lausanne down the Lake of Geneva to the city 
of that name. This beautiful inland sea, called by the Romans 
Lake Leman (Lacus Lemanus), is nearly crescent-shaped, its 
horns being turned towards the south. It is the largest lake in 
Switzerland, being about fifty-six miles long and eight miles wide 
at its broadest part. It lies 1,230 feet above the level of the sea, 
and is 1,230 feet deep. The waters of Lake Leman differ from 
those of the other Swiss lakes, inasmuch as they are deep blue 
in color, while the other lakes are of a greenish hue. The view 
of Geneva and its surroundings from the lake is very beautiful. 
Upon either bank are picturesque villas, most of these abodes of 
wealth and luxury being upon the westerly side, however, as they 
command a better view. The water is dotted with pleasure-craft, 
the graceful lateen-sail seen upon the Mediterranean and the 
Scottish lakes being used here also. The house occupied by 
Byron is pointed out, and at Pregny is the chateau of Baron 
Adolf Rothschild. Mont Blanc should have been seen, but per- 
sistently kept his lofty brow veiled in clouds. Out on the broader 
part of the lake, the southern shore presents bolder features, the 
background being formed by masses of rugged mountains; while 
on the northern shore, the more graceful slopes are rich in vine- 
yards. At Coppet, a chateau where Necker and his daughter, 
Madame de Stael, resided, is seen; and near Nyon is a handsome 
chateau formerly occupied by Bonaparte. The Dole, one of the 
most conspicuous summits of the Jura Mountains, rises in rear 
of Nyon. At Rolle, Laharpe, the tutor of Alexander I. of Rus- 
sia, was born, and a monument to his memory has been erected 
upon a little island near the shore. At Nyon and Morges some 
ancient castles are seen. 

Geneva, although the capital of the smallest of the Swiss Can- 
tons, is the most populous city of the Republic. It contains 
62,312 inhabitants, the greater number of whom are Protestants. 
It is situated at the western end of the Lake of Geneva, at the 
point where "the blue waters of the arrowy Rhone" issue out 
of it. The river divides the town into two parts, the smaller, on 



124 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the right bank, being called the Quartier St. Gervais. Geneva, 
when seen from the lake, presents a very imposing appearance. 
Several new quarters border the lake, displaying handsome fronts 
of tall houses, lined with broad quays. 

The city commands an unobstructed view of the charming 
lake, and in the distance Mont Blanc rises in ghostly majesty 
toward the clouds. "The river Rhone passes from the lake 
directly through the city. It is about five hundred feet wide, and 
rushes with such force as to drive the wheel of the water-works, 
located near one of the bridges, which supplies the fountains of 
the city with water. It is so clear that the pebbles can be seen 
at its bottom, whilst the fish are visible as they fly along in the 
rapid current. 

"It would be difficult to find a more beautiful nia-ht-scene than 
the quay and the bridges of Geneva present, with the thousands 
of lamps that are reflected from the blue waters of the Rhone on 
both sides of the river. Here all the hotels are located, and here 
the citizens spend their evenings in promenading and loitering 
in the cafes to listen to the singfingf of strolling vocalists. The 
stores on Rue du Rhone and Rue Centrale, as well as on the 
quay, on both sides of the river, make a tempting display of their 
goods." 

"Although Geneva emancipated herself politically from France 
in 1814, she is almost wholly environed by its territory; whilst 
her language, customs and every aspect are thoroughly French. 
Her architecture has nothing distinctively Swiss about it, and her 
workmen wear blue blouses. French cafes and shops are upon the 
chief thoroughfares, or upon the quays, which, with the charming 
gardens by the lakeside, and the handsome bridges thrown 
across the 'arrowy Rhone,' form the principal promenades at 
evening; and down by the river are the lavoirs of the washer- 
women, just as we find them along the Seine in Paris. Mediaeval 
Geneva is chiefly upon the hill, and is made up of quaint old 
houses and narrow winding streets; the modern city is mostly 
upon the borders of the lake. 

"Geneva is a Protestant city, and has long been so; here John 
Calvin found a refuge when he fled from France, and here he 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. 1 25 

developed his greatest power. Once this 'Babel of Calvinism,' 
this 'nursing mother of heretical plots,' as St. Francis de Sales 
was pleased to term it, narrowly escaped being delivered back to 
Catholic domination. On the night of December nth, 1602, a 
detachment from the army of Charles Emmanuel, Duke of Savoy, 
attempted to gain possession of Geneva, and would have scaled 
the wall of the Corraterie, but for the bravery of some of the citi- 
zens. The invaders were carrying all before them, when Jean 
Mercier, one of the guards of the Porte Neuve, cut the cord of 
the portcullis at the very moment a Savoyard engineer was ap- 
plying the petard to the gate. A lucky cannon-shot swept away 
the scaling-ladders placed against the walls, and the Savoy- 
ard party became demoralized. Their leader, Brunalien, was 
slain, and seventeen of his men were taken prisoners. Mean- 
while the main army, under D'Albigny, mistaking the discharge 
of the cannon for the explosion of the petard, the preconcerted 
signal for the attack, marched up to the Porte Neuve to find the 
gate closed and to receive a shower of shot, which threw the 
Savoyard ranks into utter confusion and retreat. A fountain 
commemorates this event, and there is annually a fete of the 
Escalade, which is an extravagant sort of merry-making in the 
nature of a carnival. 

" Jean Jacques Rousseau was born here, and his statue orna- 
ments a little island in the river. Necker, the minister of Louis 
XVI., and his daughter, Madame de Stael, were also born in 
Geneva ; and so were De Saussure, Charles Bonnet, De Can- 
dolle, and other celebrated savants. Voltaire founded the little 
town of Fernex, near Geneva, and Byron for a time lived on the 
opposite bank of the lake, in a suburb of Geneva. Calvin lived 
in Geneva from 1536 until his death, in 1564, and the house he 
occupied was in the Rue des Chanoines. He was buried in the 
cemetery of Plainpalais, but precisely where his body now rests 
is not known, as he expressly forbade that any monument should 
be erected to him. A chair which belonged to the great reformer 
is preserved in the cathedral. 

" The Cathedral of St. Pierre was completed in 1 204, by the 
Emperor Conrad II., but has been greatly changed in appearance 



126 AROUND THE WORLD. 

since that time. It contains some interesting monuments, some 
handsome stained glass windows, and a fine organ. Near at 
hand is the Hotel de Ville, an ancient edifice in the Florentine 
style, chiefly remarkable for an inclined paved-way leading to the 
upper stories, and up which the Councillors in ancient times 
were conveyed on horseback or in chairs. The building con- 
tains the cantonal and municipal offices, and in one of its rooms 
the Alabama Claims Commission held its deliberations. This 
fact is duly set forth upon a wall tablet. 

" The University Building is a handsome edifice near the 
Botanic Garden. It was erected some ten years since by the 
city and canton, and contains a fine library and a valuable mu- 
seum of natural history. The library was founded by Bonivard, 
the famed prisoner of Chillon. Near the University are two art 
museums, the Musee Rath and the Athenee, both of which were 
presented by women. The former was founded by the Russian 
general Rath, a native of Geneva, and given to the city by his 
sisters ; and the Athenee was presented to the Societe des Beaux 
Arts. The Musee Fol is a collection of Greek and Etruscan 
antiquities. 

" Upon one side of the Place Neuve, upon which the Musee 
Rath, and both the old and new theatres are situated, and near 
which are also the University and the new Palais Electoral, stands 
the Conservatoire de Musique, a comparatively small but sub- 
stantial and conveniently arranged building. The Conservatoire 
was founded in 1852 through the munificence of a liberal-spirited 
citizen, M. Francois Bartholony, and the present edifice was 
erected in 1858. 

"The old theatre (erected in 1782, after the Calvinistic op- 
position to dramatic performances had ceased in a great degree) 
is soon to be superseded by an elegant new play-house, which is 
being erected with some of the money left to the city by the late 
Duke of Brunswick. A costly monument to the Duke is also 
being erected on the Place des Alpes. 

" On the south bank of the Rhone, and near the lake, is a 
handsome monument commemorating- the Union of Geneva with 
the Swiss Confederation, which occurred in 1814. It is in the 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. I 27 

form of a bronze group, by Dorer, representing two female 
figures, Geneva and Helvetia. Within the Jardin Anglais is a 
kiosque containing an interesting representation in relief of 
Mont Blanc and the surrounding region. 

" Geneva contains a Russian church, as well as an English 
place of worship. The interior of the former is elegantly 
finished in marble. 

" The manufacture of watches and music-boxes constitutes the 
chief industry of Geneva, and the city is also a great market for 
carved woodwork. The principal shops where watches and 
jewelry are sold are fitted up with Parisian taste and elegance, 
and as they are kept open until nine o'clock, and brilliantly 
lighted, an evening stroll along the quays, where most of them 
are situated, is one of the delights of a visit to this charming 
city." 

On the 27th of July, General Grant laid with appropriate 
ceremonies the corner-stone of a New American Episcopal 
Church in the Rue des Voirons. All the Americans residing 
or sojourning in Geneva were present, and the ceremonies were 
witnessed by a vast crowd of the citizens proper. The cere- 
monies were followed by a breakfast at the Hotel de la Pays, at 
which Mr. Parkes, the American chaplain, presided. 

The 28th and 29th of July were devoted to seeing the sights 
of Geneva, and on the 30th General Grant and his party left 
that city for a visit to Mont Blanc and the Italian lakes. Cha- 
mounix at the foot of Mont Blanc was reached on the same day, 
and on the 31st an excursion was made to Montanvert. The 
journey from Geneva to Chamounix and the ascent of Mont 
Blanc are two of the most interesting portions of the European 
trip. The following description of it, by Mr. Joel Cook, of the 
Philadelphia Public Ledger, given in a letter to that journal, will 
acquaint the reader with the experience of General Grant and 
party in this respect: 

" We started early this morning from Geneva to pay a visit to 
that exalted curiosity, the King of the Alps, Mont Blanc, or, in 
English, the 'White Mountain.' It has heretofore been noticed 
that the highest mountains of the world are always called the 



128 AROUND THE WORLD. 

' White Mountains ' or the ' Snow Mountains.' As the highest 
mountains are always snow-covered, they therefore appear white, 
and the earliest lookers at them naturally named them according 
to their color, so that, if we trace out their names in the various 
languages, they are always found to be, when translated into 
English, the synonyme for ' white ' or for ' snow,' whether those 
names be given in Savoy, or India, or Thibet, or Africa, or 
America ; whether it be the White Mountains of New England, 
or Cotapaxi, in the Andes, or the Sierra Nevada, or the Hima- 
layas, or Mont Blanc, or other distinct mountains or ranges. 
Having thus properly introduced the white-topped monster of 
Savoy, who has probably been studied and visited the most of 
all the famous mountains of the world, I will go on to describe 
the journey we made to see him, in another of those gig-topped 
carriages, with three horses driven abreast, with wmich this cele- 
brated but very hilly region abounds. 

"We started, drove over the bridge across the Rhone, and 
passed through the portion of Geneva which rejoices in possess- 
ing the three streets — Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. . . . Our 
driver cracked his whip, and chirruped the horses, and each 
merrily jingling a long string of sleigh-bells, they briskly trotted 
along, showering mud on all behind them. . . . Thus we went 
briskly and noisily along the road to Chamounix, . . . and in a 
short time we were out of Switzerland, and crossed the frontier 
of France into Savoy. There was no custom-house examination, 
this region of the High Alps being exempted, and we had not 
left Geneva long before we crossed the Menage River on a high 
bridge, and were at once introduced to picturesque scenery. 
The road then sought the valley of the swift-flowing Arve, and 
followed this stream all the way up to the foot of Mont Blanc. 
It was one of the greatest rides that any one could take, for it 
passed through scenery that gradually changed from a broad 
and fertile valley to a mountain gorge, or canon, where tremen- 
dous precipices were far above, and abysses far below, and the 
rugged mountain-sides poured out their torrents of water, mud, 
and stones, until they divested the valley of almost all chance of 
fertility. Yet through all this inhospitable region there was con- 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. I2Q. 

structed one of the best roads in Europe, a wagon-way every- 
where at least twenty feet wide, solidly built, with a smooth sur- 
face as good as any in Fairmount Park, curbed and thoroughly 
drained, and with gradients easy enough for a railroad. It was 
a triumph of engineering, the most of it having been made^ by 
Napoleon III., and it was of the costliest description, for miles 
of it have had to be blasted out of the solid rock or supported 
on walls sometimes fifty feet high. Its bridges were all solid 
stone structures, and it followed the river up, sometimes on one 
side and sometimes on the other, as the best opportunity for 
construction was afforded, until it brought us to the Valley of 
Chamounix. As we progressed the mountains became higher, 
and their sides more precipitous. Sometimes we passed around 
bends in the gorge that were like tremendous amphitheatres ; 
sometimes through fissures that looked as if an earthquake had 
rent them solely to let the torrent stream and the road pass 
through. Waterfalls frequently shot over the mountain-side, 
and sent rushing torrents under us and into the Arve. One of 
these, the cascade of Arpenaz, said to be the highest waterfall in 
Savoy, comes down a fissure in a mountain nine thousand feet 
high, shoots over a projecting precipice, and falls so far that it is 
entirely dissipated into spray ; then collects again on rocks a 
thousand feet below, becomes a tumbling series of little cascades, 
and finally hurls itself into the Arve. Other falls jump over the 
rocks, bury themselves in subterranean passages, and finally come 
out again as bubbling fountains far below. Every torrent is bor- 
dered by the vast accumulations of stones and debris which it 
brings down in spring-time freshets and scatters far and wide. 
They all have to be given broad beds, for when the snow melts 
fast in the spring they carry all before them. The Arve was 
filled with huge boulders, and had along it many snagged trees, 
the relics of the last freshet, and it, even now in its gentler mood, 
swept down the valley with a roar like a young Niagara. All 
the way the road went it gradually mounted an ascent till it 
passed around a sharp point of rocks, went through a tunnel, 
and in the midst of snow-covered mountains and orlaciers, srradu- 

ally resolving themselves into torrents, it passed through a 
9 



I3O AROUND THE WORLD. 

tremendous gorge, and brought us into the Valley of Cha- 
mounix, which is elevated eighteen hundred feet above Geneva, 
and three thousand feet above the sea. Here, with snow-capped 
mountains all around, and in a place which, before the great road 
was made, few travellers visited, we alighted after ten hours' 
brisk riding, with fresh relays of horses, and passed the night. 

" Chamounix is the goal of the Alpine traveller. It brings him 
face to face with Mont Blanc, surrounds him with snow and ice, 
reduces his temperature, gives him plenty of clouds and damp- 
ness, and depletes his purse in fees for guides and mules. The 
whole world around Chamounix is set on edge, and every visitor 
is expected to climb over the top of it. The more fatiguing the 
expedition taken the more he has to pay for it. For sixty to one 
hundred dollars you can have the privilege of climbing up Mont 
Blanc at the risk of your life, and after getting tired enough to 
require a month to rest, have your name spelt wrong in the offi- 
cial list of the <■ Ascensionnistes en Mont Blanc,' one of the most 
sadly-printed books I ever saw, and the English names in which, 
judging by the way they are misspelled, seem to have been set 
up by an Italian in the French language, For a less sum you 
can take a less risk, and may be less tired. The people at the 
hotels here talk only of Alpine ascensions ; of going up Mont 
Blanc to get an appetite for breakfast ; of tramping over glaciers 
and scaling rocks ; of skipping with light hearts (by the aid of 
the omnipresent Alpine stick) over little hillocks eight thousand 
feet high; of riding forty miles a day on a mule; and similar 
feats. To walk on level ground is undignified; they all prefer 
going up-hill. And so they jabber away in Anglicized French in 
the sitting-room as they gather round the fire these cold nights, 
and tell of what somebody else said he did yesterday, and what 
they expect themselves to do to-morrow. Chamourrix is a town 
of hotels and boarding-houses, all with grand views, for look 
where you will, there are snow-capped mountains and glaciers — 
but it has not yet been reached by the railway, though one could 
be easily constructed along the magnificent road with the easy 
gradients that brought us from Geneva, and perhaps will some day, 
for nowhere else than in this secluded vale, away up in the Alps, 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. I3I 

can a better idea be got of snow-covered mountains. Chamounix 
gets its name from the Latin words ' champs munis', or ' fortified 
grounds,' alluding to its strong mountain defences; but the resi- 
dents prefer to derive the name from the chamois goat which 
flourishes on its mountain-sides, and it gets its fame from Mont 
Blanc, which rises fifteen thousand seven hundred and thirty feet 
high on its southern edge. One hundred and forty years ago 
adventurous scientists began to visit and study its glaciers, but it 
was not until 1786 that Balmat and Dr. Paccard made the first 
ascension, and 1787 that De Saussure made his ascension with 
Colonel Baufroy. The first lady — Mile. Paradis — ascended the 
mountain in 1809, whilst the first Americans — Messrs. Howard 
and Rensselaer — ascended in 18 19. On the 6th of September, 
1870, three persons, two of them Americans, attempted the 
ascension, with three guides, and all perished. Now the ascen- 
sions average fifty a year, and are considered safe to make, 
though very fatiguing and occupying two or three days. The 
first day the visitor goes to the huts of the Grand Mulets ; the 
second, he starts at midnight and goes to the summit in time to 
see the sun rise, and then he descends on the second and third 
days, unless he is robust enough to compress the fatigue into one 
day. The view from the Valley of the Chamounix is of most 
extraordinary description. It is a deep, narrow valley, with a 
slight curve, bordered by tremendous precipices, snow-covered 
at the tops, and rising to the height of nine thousand to ten thou- 
sand feet on the north side, and much higher on the south. Out 
of the snowy tops are thrust the bare, jagged, pointed rocks, that 
are the higher Alpine peaks, generally bare of snow, because 
they are too steep for it to stay on them, and looking like blunt- 
pointed needles, which leads the people here to call almost all of 
them by that name. Great fissures are rent in their sides, down 
which come glaciers, or the dry beds of spring-time torrents. 
Below the snow verdure covers them, gradually changing from 
grass to bushes and trees as the mountain is descended. At the 
bottom of the valley is a flat fertile surface, which is carefully 
cultivated, but it forms but a small portion, a; d is frequently 
crossed by great stony morains whose torrent beds run into the 



I32 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Arve. There are a few villages here, of which Chamounix is the 
chief, but it would be of very little size were it not for the hotels 
and boarding-houses. In fact, almost the entire subsistence of 
the people in this nearly-desolate valley is upon the stranger. 
Visitors come to see the sights, and the people earn a subsistence 
by serving them as guides, chair-carriers, muleteers, coach-drivers, 
and hotel-servants. Mont Blanc and the glaciers, and the snow- 
capped hundreds of mountain-tops around, bring Chamounix its 
wealth ; yet the people, like many elsewhere, are unsatisfied with 
this, and are endeavoring to get for their valley a reputation 
because it contains mineral springs. How strange some people 
are ! This valley is unknown abroad excepting as a mountain 
vale, yet its people want to make it a bathing-place for invalids, 
and cover the hotel rooms with placards that describe it, in very 
queerly-worded English, as a prospective Baden or Saratoga. A 
great bath it can never be, but the chief resort for getting glori- 
ous mountain views it will probably remain as long as human 
beings love sight-seeing. 

"On the morning of Thursday, September 26th, 1878, there was 
seen solemnly marching out of Chamounix a procession of seven 
donkeys, in single file. It might have been doubted which were 
the donkeys, the quadrupeds who did the marching, or the bipeds 
who rode them, but, judging from the remarks of some of the 
bipeds, they had no doubt on the subject. There were three 
ladies, two little children, and two men, with four guides leading 
the animals, a necessary precaution because the latter understood 
only French, and all the American 'get-ups' and 'whoas' that 
were uttered, no matter how vigorously pronounced, were entirely 
lost upon these long-eared beasts, that had only been educated 
in the polite and diplomatic language of the Court of Versailles. 
It was a picturesque party, with heads muffled in shawls, stock- 
ings drawn over shoes, and wearing ancient clothing, and those 
who had never been on mule-"back before carried it by a large 
majority. The procession started amid clouds and unpromising 
weather, and slowly wound around among the little fields and 
stunted bushes of the valley, until it reached a zigzag path up the 
mountain-side. Then up the narrow, stony, crooked bridle-path 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. 1 33 

it mounted to scale the Alps. Gradually, as each angle in the 
road was turned, the procession was raised above the valley to- 
wards the clouds that obscured the mountain-tops, and before very 
long it entered the clouds whilst still toiling up the ascent- Then 
nothing could be seen, though far below the roar of the rushing 
Arve could be heard, and also the twanging- of at least one 
thousand cow-bells, for those useful animals were feeding all 
down the mountain-side and in the valley, each with a boy 
or girl watching it, as no cow pastures in this mountain region are 
uncared for. Everything was dripping with moisture, and every- 
body was very cold, but they nobly toiled up the ascent in search 
of the unseen heights above. Yawning precipices opened along- 
side the narrow path down which a misstep would have thrown us 
to destruction, but the beasts, whilst not pretty to look at, were 
sure-footed, and if they did try once in a while to rub off their 
awkward riders against a stone, or stopped short, whenever they 
felt like it, regardless of the torrent of orders given them in the 
strongest American language, the offence was pardoned for the 
safety they insured. The guides would beat them, and cry 
' Vit ! ' and 'Allee ! ' which is horse-talk in French, but the beasts 
knew they were masters of the situation and went along as it 
suited them, finally bringing the procession up to the region of 
snow. Then the clouds thinned above us, and we knew we were 
getting above them, and, finally, the sun burst out in all his ra- 
diance, for two hours' zigzag ascent of the mountain had raised 
us above the clouds, and there thrusting out their jagged heads 
in all directions around us were the peaks of the Alps, snow- 
covered where the rocks were not too steep to hold it, whilst all 
below was encompassed in clouds. . Still we toiled up the ascent, 
and the view became grander and grander, until having reached 
the top with the sun pouring his hottest rays upon us, we saw a 
sight which it was worth travelling four thousand miles from 
America to see. In every direction were thrust up the rocky 
peaks, pointed and needle-like, which mark the highest Alps. 
Snow lay in every fissure. There was no sign of vegetation. In 
scores of places glaciers flowed down, making those amazing 
ri.vero m ice which look like a sea in a storm suddenly stilled and 



134 AROUND THE WORLD. 

frozen, and snow then powdered over it to smooth the rougher 
edges. There was nothing in view but peaks and snow above 
and around us, and clouds below. But the sun's rays finally pre- 
vailed over the clouds, and, dissipating them, gave a view of all 
that was below; of the mountain-side that we had ascended, 
rocky and snowy at the top, gradually changing to trees and 
verdure below ; of the great glaciers coming down enormous 
fissures in the mountain, and then uniting into the grand Sea of 
Ice, which flows slowly down the inclined plane between two 
mountains, cracking, groaning, and melting, until it resolves 
itself into the seething torrent that courses down to the valley 
far below to swell the Arve. The valley could be traced, its 
stream like a silver streak, its villages like spots amid the green, 
its course curving grandly around far away on either hand, amid 
two magnificent rows of snow-capped mountains, with Mont Blanc 
guarding it on the south and sending many a silvery glacier into 
it. The snow, which had fallen copiously during the early morn- 
ing, was melting, so that it was damp underfoot and everything 
seemed to be resolving itself into running water. But we cared 
little for that. We had mounted many thousand feet until we had 
gone far above the clouds and the snow-line, and there amid 
peaks twelve thousand to over fifteen thousand feet high, we were 
enjoying what all travellers agree is the greatest mountain view 
the world affords. 

" But we could not stay there forever, and, as the day waned, 
we must come down again, and here we learned additional ex- 
perience. Going up-hill on a strange mule is one thing, going 
down is another. A. few hours of zig-zag winding down the 
mountain side, all the time in full view of and almost over the 
town, ultimately brought us to it." 

On the 2d of August, General Grant and his party set out from 
Chamounix for Italy, by way of the Simplon Pass. The first 
part of the journey, from Chamounix to Martigny, was performed 
in carriages. The road is tolerably good for the region, but is 
still a rough, and, in some places, a dangerous one. It winds 
through the valley of the Arve, crossing and recrossing that 
swift rushing stream in many places, and affords a splendid view 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. 1 35 

of the Mer de Glace. It crosses the mountain at the pass of 
Montets, at an elevation of 5,000 feet, and continues through 
one of the wildest and dreariest regions of Savoy. Then striking 
the savage-looking valley of Berard, it descends rapidly, follow- 
ing the course of the Eau Noire, or Blackwater river, and winds 
around the mountain towards the pass of the Tete Noire. Val- 
orsine, the chief village of the valley, is reached, and the road 
descends more rapidly, enters the forest at the base of the moun- 
tain Pes Poussettes, and soon reaches the little inn of Barberine— 
half way between Chamounix and Martigny— -close by which is a 
beautiful cascade. About a mile further on are an old barrier-gate 
and a redoubt, which mark the boundary between France and 
Switzerland. The valley now contracts to a rugged defile, which 
is richly clothed with forest trees, and overhung by rocky heights. 
Here the road crosses the Eau Noire, and climbs the steep sides 
of the Black Mountain, affording magnificent views at every step. 
In a short while the small inn known as the Hotel de la Tete 
Noire is reached, and then the road, leaving the Eau Noire, 
turns abruptly into the gorge through which rushes the river 
Trient. It ascends abruptly for some time, through a dark, 
dense forest, and then, emerging into the open valley, crosses 
the stream to the hamlet of Trient. The defile referred to is 
known as the Pass of the Tete Noire, or the Mauvais Pas, and 
is wild and rugged beyond description. From Trient a fine 
view is had of the glacier of the same name, the ice of which is 
free from dirt or stones, and is largely exported. Half an hour 
beyond Trient the road reaches the Pass of Forclaz, 4,997 feet 
above the sea. The road here winds zig-zag up the almost per- 
pendicular side of the mountain, and a little beyond Forclaz the 
traveller enjoys a glorious view of the whole valley of the Rhone. 
Almost at his feet, but distant still, lies Martigny, the object of 
his journey. Passing now through forests, meadows, and or- 
chards, the road rapidly descends the mountain, and in two 
hours reaches Martigny, a town of 1,300 inhabitants, lying within 
the Swiss territory. 

" Martigny is not a very attractive town in itself, but it stands 
in a magnificent position. Snow is all around ; also high moun- 



I36 AROUND THE WORLD. 

tains and the most terrific-looking rocks and gorges, yet the 
valley in which it stands, like most of the Swiss valleys, has a 
level, fertile surface, bordering the swift-flowing, muddy Rhone, 
and is highly cultivated. Up on the hill-side, several hundred 
feet above the town, stands the ancient castle of La Batiaz, built 
six hundred years ago by Peter of Savoy, and its dark-gray, 
round tower, over which floats the red cross of Switzerland, 
commands a view of the three deep, narrow valleys that diverge 
from Martigny, that from La Forclaz, down which we had come 
over the mountain from Chamounix ; that along which the Rhone 
flows from the Simplon ; and, turning a right angle, that by 
which the Rhone flows on to Lake Leman. In the centre of the 
town there is a little grove of trees, in which is set up a modest 
graystone monument where two roads diverge. This little 
monument marks the point where two roads of world-wide 
fame start to cross the Alps. On one side it bears the word 
'Simplon,' and on the other 'St. Bernard.' The famous Pass 
of the Simplon, constructed by Napoleon as a military road, 
begins at this little monument, and starting at right angles from 
it is the road over the other famous pass, the Great St. Bernard. 
Both are fine roads, toiling up the Alps by devious ways, and 
across their top in the lowest available places, and down again 
on the other side into Italy. Martigny's chief business seemed 
to be to furnish guides and carriages for these passes, and for 
that to Chamounix. It is a sad-looking, sprawling village, scat- 
tered in bits about the valley, with generally poor houses, and 
with a great number of cases of goitre visible among the inhabi- 
tants, this disease being prevalent in Switzerland, and particularly 
so at Martigny, owing to the swampy land near there. The 
Rhone tumbles through the town in a bed about eighty feet wide, 
and comes from the great glacier away up near the Pass of the 
Simplon, for it drains all the Alps in that direction, and receives 
many a little torrent on its way down, and then it courses on 
through the valley to the lake. Martigny's only events are the 
occasional arrival and departure of railway trains and wagons ; 
it subsists on the passing traveller ; its mornings are sonorous 
with out-going and its evenings with in-coming cow-bells ; and 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. 1 37 

so it will probably continue till the Alps engulf it, or till the end 
of time." 

From Martigny General Grant and his party proceeded by 
railway to Sierre, distant twenty-seven miles, from which place 
the road over the Simplon begins. The route is about sixty- 
eight English miles in length, and the road one of the finest 
mountain highways in the world. 

" The construction of a route over the Simplon was decided 
upon by Napoleon immediately after the battle of Marengo, 
while the recollection of his own difficult passage of the Alps 
by the Great St. Bernard (at that time one of the easiest Alpine 
passes) was fresh in his memory. The plans and surveys by 
which the direction of the road was determined were made by 
M. Ceard, and a large portion of the works was executed under 
the superintendence of that able engineer. It was commenced 
on the Italian side in 1800, and on the Swiss in 1801. It took 
six years to complete, though it was barely passable in 1805, 
and more than 30,000 men were employed on it at one time. 
To give a notion of the colossal nature of the undertaking, it 
may be mentioned that the number of bridges, great and small, 
constructed for the passage of the road between Brieg and 
Sesto. amounts to 613, in addition to the far more vast and 
costly constructions, such as terraces of massive masonry miles 
in length ; of ten galleries, either cut out of the living rock or 
built of solid stone ; and of twenty houses of refuge to shelter 
travellers, and lodge the laborers employed in taking care of the 
road. Its breadth is throughout at least twenty-five feet, in some 
places thirty feet, and the slope nowhere exceeds one in thirteen. 

" Excepting the Cenis, this was the first carriage-road carried 
across any of the higher passes of the Alps. Its cost averaged 
$25,000 a mile. In England the average cost of turnpike-roads 
is $5,000 per mile. It was the wonder of its day ; but the tri- 
umphs of modern engineering are greater. The object of 
Napoleon in its formation is well marked by the question which, 
on two different occasions, he first asked of the engineer sent to 
him to report progress — ' Le canon quand pourra-t-il passer au 
Simplon ?' ('When can cannon pass the Simplon ?') 



I38 AROUND THE WORLD. 

" The ascent of the Simplon begins at Brieg. About half a 
mile above the town the road leaves, on the right, the lofty 
covered bridge over the Saltine, now little used, since most 
vehicles make the detour by Brieg instead of going direct to 
or from Gliss. The road then makes a wide sweep, turning 
away from the Glisshorn, the mountain which bounds the valley 
on the right, towards the Klenenhorn, on the opposite side, ap- 
proaching a little hill dotted with white chapels and crowned by 
a calvary. It then again approaches the gorge of the Saltine, 
skirting the verge of a precipice, at the bottom of which the 
torrent is seen at a vast depth, forcing its way among black and 
bristling slate-rocks. At the upper end of the ravine, high above 
his head, the traveller may discern the glaciers under which the 
road is carried. Looking back, he has a view of the valley of 
the Rhone, as far as Turtman, spread out at his feet; Brieg and 
Naters remain long in sight. It is a constant pull against the 
collar from Briesf to the Second Refuse. Here the road, carried 
for some distance nearly on a level, is compelled to bend round 
the valley of the Ganter until it can cross the torrent by another 
lofty bridge, called Pont du Ganter. The upper end of this wild 
ravine is swept by avalanches almost every winter, the snow of 
which nearly fills it up. This bridge is left uncovered, from the 
fear that the terrific gusts which accompany these falls might 
blow the arch away, were they met by the resistance of flat 
timber-work. After crossing the bridge the road ascends by a 
zigzag to the Third Refuge, called Berisal, or Persal, a post 
station with a good mountain inn. 

" The first gallery which the road traverses is that of Schalbet, 
ninety-five feet long — 3,920 feet above Gliss. Near this, and 
hence to the summit, should the sky be clear, the traveller's at- 
tention will be riveted by the glorious view of the Bernese Alps, 
which bound the Valais and form the right-hand wall of the valley 
of the Rhone. The glittering white peaks of the Aletschhorn 
and Nesthorn, and the great Aletsch glacier, are magnificent 
objects in the landscape. 

" Fifth Refuge, called Schalbet. — ' Here a picture of desolation 
surrounds the traveller. The pine has no longer the scanty pit- 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. 1 39 

tance of soil which it requires for nourishment ; the hardy but 
beautiful Alpine flower ceases to embellish the sterile solitude ; 
and the eye wanders over snow and glacier, fractured rock and 
roaring cataract, relieved only by that stupendous monument of 
human labor, the road itself, winding along the edges of preci- 
pices, penetrating the primeval granite, striding over the furious 
torrent, and burrowing through dark and dripping grottoes be- 
neath accumulated masses of ice and snow.' 

"The portion of the road between the Fifth Refuge and the 
summit is the most dangerous of all, at the season when avalanches 
fall and tourmentes arise, on which account it is provided with six 
places of shelter, viz., three galleries, two refuges, and a hospice, 
within a distance of not more than one and three-quarter miles. 
The head of the gorge of Schalbet, a wild recess in the flanks 
of the Monte Leone, is filled with the Kaltwasser glacier, be- 
neath which, along the edge of a yawning abyss, the road is 
necessarily conducted. This field of ice in the heat of summer 
feeds five or six furious torrents, the sources of the Saltine, and 
in winter discharges avalanches into the gulf below. To protect 
this portion of the road three galleries, called, from their vicinity 
to the glacier, Glacier Galleries, partly excavated, partly built of 
masonry strongly arched, have been constructed. By an ingen- 
ious contrivance of the engineer, they serve in places as bridges 
and aqueducts at the same time, the torrents being conducted 
over and beneath them ; and the traveller is surprised to find his 
carriage suddenly driven in perfect safety underneath a consider- 
able waterfall. These galleries have been extended far beyond 
their original length, for greater security. In the spring the 
avalanches slide over their roofs. 

"A simple cross of wood, a few yards above the Sixth Refuge, 
marks the highest point of the road, 6,628 feet above the sea. 
About half a mile beyond it stands the New Hospice, founded by 
Napoleon, but left unfinished until 1825, when it was purchased 
and completed by the monks of the Great St. Bernard. It is a 
plain, solid edifice, containing several neat bed-rooms, a drawing- 
room, a piano, a refectory, a chapel, and about thirty beds for 
travellers of the common sort. It is occupied by three or four 



I4O AROUND THE WORLD. 

brothers of the community of the Great St Bernard. Some of 
the celebrated dogs are kept here, but they are rarely employed 
on active service. 

"A large open valley of considerable extent, bounded by the 
snow-clad heights of the Fletschhorn and Monte Leone, and 
having the appearance of a drained lake, occupies the summit of 
the Simplon. It is a wild, barren scene. Below the road, on the 
right, stands a small tower which was the original hospice. A 
gradual descent of about three miles leads to the village of Sim- 
plon, above which towers the Fletschhorn, consisting of two peaks, 
the northern, called the Rossbodenhorn, 1 3,084 feet high, and the 
southern the Laquinhorn, 13,176 feet high, the two being sepa- 
rated by a deep gulf. 

"From Simplon the traveller, turning to the left, descends into 
the deep valley which leads to Italy, and after a time reaches the 
Gallerie d'Algaby, about nine leagues from Brieg and five from 
Domo d'Ossola, on the banks of the torrent Diveria. The road 
dives into this Gallery, and then, by a more gradual slope, enters 
the Gorge of Gondo, one of the grandest and most savage in 
the Alps. 

" The Diveria is now crossed by the wooden bridge of Ponte 
Alto, an approach to which has been formed by scarping the rock 
with gunpowder. Some way farther a projecting buttress seems 
to bar all further passage. It is perforated by a tunnel called 
Gallery of Gondo, 596 feet in length, the longest cut through 
solid rock in the whole line of the Simplon ; it was also the most 
difficult and costly to make, on account of the extreme hardness 
of the rock. The miners were suspended by ropes until a lodg- 
ment was effected, to commence the side openings, which now 
serve to light the interior. Opposite one of them is seen the 
inscription i y^re Italo, mdcccv. Napoleon Imp* 

" Close to the very mouth of this remarkable gallery the roar- 
ing waterfall of the Frassinone leaps close to the road, which is 
carried over it on a beautiful bridge. Mr. Brockedon, an artist 
of skill, as well as a traveller of experience, remarks, in his ' Ex- 
cursions among the Alps,' that the scenery of this portion of the 
Vai Diveria, bursting suddenly upon the traveller as he issues 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. I4I 

from the gallery, 'offers perhaps the finest assemblage of objects 
to excite an emotion of the sublime, that is to be found in the 
Alps.' The traveller should pause and look back after proceed- 
ing about forty yards. The cliffs rise on both sides as straight as 
walls. A number of zigzags now lead to a bridge which was car- 
ried away by an avalanche during the dreadful storm which ruined 
a great part of the Simplon road, on the 24th of August, 1834. 
The road is still in places very narrow and in bad order. 

" Gondo (Gunz), the last village in the Valais, consists of a few 
miserable huts, grouped round a singular, tall building, seven 
stories high, erected, like the tower at Simplon, by the old Brieg 
family Stockalper, in ancient days, for the refuge of travellers. 

"An hour's drive by the side of the torrent, which falls in a 
cascade down the right-hand wall of the valley, leads to the gold- 
mine of Ziirichbergen, which, though it barely produces a few 
particles of the precious metal, is still worked in the hope of gain. 
The traveller enters Italy a short while before reaching the Pied- 
montese village of Isella, one of the most beautiful points of the 
Pass, where the custom-house is situated, and the traveller has to 
pay a heavy duty for his tobacco. 

" Hereabouts a change comes over the valley, from nakedness 
or a mantle of shrubs to the rich green of the chestnut, and the 
dark foliage of the fir. The last gallery is traversed near Cre- 
vola, where the Diveria is crossed for the last time by a lofty 
bridge of two arches, nearly ninety feet high, previous to its flow- 
ing into the Toccia or Tosa, which here issues out of the Val 
Formazza, and where the Val Vedro terminates in the Val 
d'Ossola. 

" It is now that the traveller really finds himself in a different 
region and another climate ; the balmy air, the trellised vines, the 
rich juicy stalks of the maize, the almost deafening chirp of the 
grasshoppers or tree-crickets, and, at night, the equally loud 
croakings of the frogs — the white villages, with their tall, square 
bell-towers, also white, not only scattered thickly along the valley, 
but perched on every little jutting platform on the hillsides — all 
these proclaim the entrance to Italy." 

A little further on is Domo d'Ossola, the Italian end of the 



142 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Simplon Pass, an unimportant town, possessing little interest 
save that it was the first town of Italy entered by General Grant. 

From Domo d'Ossola, a drive of a few hours through one of 
the loveliest portions of Italy brought the travellers to Pallanza, 
on the shore of the beautiful Lago Maggiore, where they arrived 
on the 5th of August. 

The Lago Maggiore is about forty miles long and about three 
miles wide, except at its greatest breadth, where it reaches a 
width of six miles. It is 646 feet above the sea, and is 2,500 feet 
deep. A small portion of its northern extremity belongs to Swit- 
zerland. The voyage along the lake is very delightful, and the 
scenery exquisite. The sides are so precipitous that there is 
scarcely a path along them. Villages and churches are, however, 
perched on the heights, and wherever a deposit has been formed 
in the lake by a torrent, a village will be found. 

From Pallanza, General Grant and his companions proceeded 
to the Lake of Como, halting at Varese on the 7th of August, 
and arriving at Bellagio on the 8th. A brief stay was made here, 
and the General was honored with a fete, a display of fireworks, 
and a reception by the authorities of the town. 

Bellagio occupies a bold headland at the junction of the Lakes 
of Como and Lecco, and commands extensive views of both. 
Apart from its beautiful scenery, the town is unimportant. 

The Lake of Como, the most famous and beautiful of the 
Italian lakes, is about thirty-one miles long, and from one to two 
and a half miles broad, and is 1,900 feet deep. It lies 700 feet 
above the sea, and is shut in by lofty mountains on every side. 
"The scene from the deck of the steamer on Lake Como is 
sublime. The lake is so closely shut in by the surrounding moun- 
tains that it is difficult to discover the outlet. On turning the 
quay of Como, and passing the first promontory, the great beauty 
of the lake is brought to view, and during the whole trip to 
Colico, requiring some four hours, the scene is one of almost un- 
broken beauty and grandeur. Those who speak of the scenery 
of Lake George or the Hudson as equally picturesque as Lake 
Como, have certainly never seen the latter, especially at this sea- 
son of the year, when its mountain-sides are clothed with verdure, 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. 1 43 

and many of their tops, seven thousand feet high in the air, are 
glistening with perpetual snow. 

" For the first ten or fifteen miles after leaving Como, numer- 
ous bright and gay villas of the Milanese aristocracy, surrounded 
by luxuriant gardens and vineyards, are scattered along the hill- 
sides of the lake, and there are also many hamlets and villages 
far up the mountain-sides. In the forests beyond, the brilliant 
green of the chestnut and walnut contrasts strongly with the 
grayish tints of the olive, which to the unaccustomed eye bears a 
strong resemblance to the willow. The mountain-peaks rise 
mostly to the height of over seven thousand feet above the sur- 
face of the lake, the depth of which, at some points, is over two 
thousand feet, the water being as clear and beautifully blue as the 
Bay of Naples. The lake winds and turns among the mountains, 
and at no time can one see more than half a mile ahead of the 
boat Along the lake-shores are a large number of palaces of 
the royal and aristocratic families of Italy, and various hotels for 
summer resorts, at which a large number of passengers stop to 
spend a few days, to escape from the heat of Milan. 

"The mountain-sides for the whole distance of thirty miles, 
from Como to Colico, are largely inhabited, and every spot of 
land is under cultivation. The mountain-sides are terraced, and 
mostly planted with grapes up to the elevation of over a thousand 
feet. To the eye, the houses and even villages high up on the 
precipitous sides of these mountains look as if they would topple 
over into the lake. The churches and monasteries on the sides 
of the mountains are very numerous, and can always be recog- 
nized by their steeples and belfries. At one point nine could be 
counted, and not more than two or three hundred cottages 
within two miles of them. When about half-way up the lake the 
atmosphere rapidly changed as the snow-clad mountains loomed 
in the distance. 

"Lake Como cannot be so described as to do justice to its 
varied attractions. The private villas on its shores are painted in 
bright colors, gleaming amid gardens of lemon, orange, and citron 
trees. Every establishment of any pretension has its fountain, 
and all have solid granite walls, built up out of the water, with 
water-gates supplied with steps for landing and embarkation." 



144 AROUND THE WORLD. 

From Bellao-io, General Grant and his companions sailed up 
the beautiful lake to Colico, from which place they returned to 
Switzerland by the Spliigen Pass. Carriages conveyed them 
from Colico to Chiavenna, the route lying through Riva, and fol- 
lowing a wild and gloomy valley. 

Chiavenna is a town of 3,000 inhabitants, and is charmingly 
situated below steep wooded mountains of singular beauty, at the 
junction of the valley of San Giacomo with that of the Maira, called 
Val Bregaglia. Here the travellers left the carriages which had 
brought them from Colico, and took the diligence for the journey 
over the Alps. A good road to Campo Dolcino, a poor town, 
carried them through a rugged and desolate region. Beyond 
this village the road ascends by numerous zigzags the steep side 
of the hill, here almost a precipice, and then passes through a 
tunnel one hundred and twenty paces long, crosses the little 
stream of the Madesimo, within a few yards of the verge of the 
precipice, and reaches the village of Pianazzo. Isola is the next 
village on the route, and after leaving it behind the road passes 
through a series of galleries, the longest on any Alpine road, 
constructed of solid masonry, arched, with roofs sloping out- 
wards, to turn aside the snow, supported on pillars, and lighted 
by low windows like the embrasures of a battery. They protect 
this portion of the road from avalanches, which were so fatal to 
the old road. Winding still upward the road passes the boun- 
dary between Italy and Switzerland, and reaches the summit of 
the pass, 6,945 feet above the sea and about twenty-eight miles 
from Chiavenna. Then descending rapidly for four and a half 
miles, it reaches the village of Spliigen, in Switzerland, and' the 
Swiss end of the Pass. This is the chief town of the Rheinwald, 
and lies near the source of the Rhine, here simply an humble 
mountain stream, unless swollen by rains into a fierce and reck- 
less torrent. "After leaving Spliigen, the turnpike follows close 
to the banks of the Rhine, with towering mountains on either 
side. In fact at various points of the road the Rhine winds its 
way through upright walls of rock from twelve to thirty feet 
apart, and six hundred feet below the turnpike." The wildest of 
these gorges is known as the Via Mala, and is the chief attrac- 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. 1 45 

tion of this route. The following is a description of the Pass, 
commencing from the direction opposite to that in which our 
travellers traversed it. 

"The Via Mala, extending three and a half miles, is one of the 
most celebrated defiles in Switzerland. The precipices rise in 
some places 1,600 feet, and for a short distance are scarcely 
more than ten yards apart. Its ascent begins a quarter of a mile 
beyond Thusis, and to see the defile well a traveller should quit 
his carriage and walk to the second bridge. 

"At the mouth of the defile, the cliffs afforded in their natural 
state not an inch of space along which a goat could clamber; and, 
in ancient times, this part of the chasm was deemed inaccessible. 
The peasants gave it the name of the Lost Gulf (Trou perdu, 
Verlorenes Loch) ; and, when they wanted to go from Thusis to 
the higher valley of Schams, they ascended the vale of the Nolla 
for some distance, passed over the shoulder of Piz Beverin, and 
descended at Zillis. A second road, formed in 1470, crossed the 
mountains as before, but dipped down, from the chalets of Ron- 
gella, into the depths of the Via Mala, near the first bridge. 
This inconvenient path, after being used for more than 300 years, 
was superseded by the present magnificent highway constructed 
by the engineer Pocobelli. Avoiding the detour, he at once 
plunged into the defile, and pierced the buttress by the gallery or 
tunnel of the Verlorenes Loch, 216 feet long. The view from it, 
looking back through the vista of black rock, and the fringe of 
firs, upon the ruined tower of Realt and the sun-lit valley of 
Domleschg, is singularly beautiful. The grooves of the boring- 
rod indicate the labor of constructing this part of the road. It 
was literally forcing a passage through the bowels of the earth ; 
and the whole width of the carriage-way has been gained 
by blasting a notch, as it were, in the side of the mountain. 
For more than 1,000 feet the road is carried along beneath 
a canopy, thus artificially hollowed out. It is protected by a 
parapet, below which, at a very considerable depth, the con- 
tracted Rhine frets the foot of the precipice. A little higher up, 
the gorge widens into a small circular basin, in the midst of which 
stands the Post Ablage of Rongella ; but it soon closes again, and 



I46 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the pass attains the height of its grandeur beyond the first of the 
three bridges, by means of which the road is conveyed from side 
to side. 

"The Middle Bridge, a most striking object, from its graceful 
proportions, is approached by a second gallery, protected by a 
wooden roof to ward off falling stones. Here, the precipices on 
one side actually overhang those on the other, the direction of the 
chasm being oblique: towards the north there appears no outlet. 
The Rhine, reduced to a thread of water, is barely visible, foam- 
ing in the depths below. In one place it is entirely lost to view — 
jammed in, as it were, between the rocks, here so slightly sepa- 
rated, that small blocks and trunks of fir-trees, falling from above, 
have been caught in the chink, and remain suspended above the 
water. The ordinary height of the bridge above the river is 250 
feet ; and the water, as mentioned above, is in one place invisible 
at ordinary times, yet during the inundation of 1834, it rose to 
within a few feet of the bridge. 

"For a short way further, the road is little more than a shelf 
hewn out of the precipice, but the defile rapidly widens, and at 
the third or upper bridge, a fine structure — replacing one swept 
off in 1834 — it emerges into the open valley of Schams (Sexam- 
niensis, from six brooks, which fall into the Rhine from its sides). 
Its green meadows have a pleasing effect when contrasted with 
the gloomy scene behind, but suffered much from the inundation 
of 1834, which converted the valley into a lake, destroyed a great 
part of the road, and rendered a new line necessary." 

From the Via Mala the journey was continued to Coire (or 
Chur as it is pronounced), through a mountain region of great 
beauty. A brief stay was made at Coire to visit the sights of 
the place, and then the party proceeded to Ragatz, were his phy- 
sicians had directed General Grant to remain for some days in 
order to avail himself of the benefits of the springs of Pfaffers. 

Ragatz is beautifully situated at the point where the torrent of 
the Tamina rushes out to join the Rhine, and is about thirteen 
miles from Coire. Its chief attraction lies in the hot baths of 
Pfaffers, the water of which is brought to the bathing-houses of 
the town from the springs in pipes. The springs lie in a ravine 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. 1 47 

beyond the town. As the visitor approaches it, the sides of the 
ravine contract in an extraordinary manner, so as to approach 
within a few feet of each other ; a little farther they even close 
over and cover up the riven which is seen issuing out of a cavern. 
The springs are reached through the bath-house, whence a bridge 
of planks leads to the entrance, which is closed by a door. The 
bridge is prolonged into the gorge, in the shape of a scaffolding 
or shelf, suspended by iron stanchions to the rocks, and partly 
laid in a -niche cut out of the side. It is carried all along the 
chasm as far as the hot spring, and affords the only means of ap- 
proach to it, as the sides of the rent are vertical, and there is not 
an inch of room between them and the torrent. Formerly the 
passage was along two, sometimes one plank, unprotected by 
railings; at present a platform, four feet wide, furnished with a 
hand-rail, renders the approach to the spring easy for the most 
timid, and perfectly free from risk. Each person pays one franc 
for admittance. A few yards from the entrance the passage is 
darkened by the overhanging rock. The sudden chill of an 
atmosphere never visited by the sun's rays, the rushing and roar- 
ing of the torrent, the threatening position of the rocks above, 
have a grand and striking effect. In parts it is almost dark, where 
the sides of the ravine overlap one another, and actually meet 
overhead, so as to form a natural arch. The rocks in many places 
show marks of having been ground away, and scooped out by 
the rushing river, and by the stones brought down with it. For 
several hundred yards the river pursues an almost subterranean 
course, the roof of the chasm being the floor, as it were, of 
the valley. In some places the roots of the trees are seen 
daneline overhead. Had Viro-il or Dante known the o-ome of 
Pfaffers, they would certainly have conducted their heroes through 
it to the jaws of the infernal regions. 

The shelf of planks extends 700 yards from the baths. At its 
extremity, at the bottom of a cavern, rise the springs, of a tem- 
perature of about ioo° Fahrenheit; the water is received into a 
reservoir nearly fifteen feet deep, from which it is conducted in 
pipes. The first baths were miserable hovels, suspended, like 
swallows' nests, to the face of the rock: the only entrance was by 



j 48 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the roof, and the sick were let down by ropes and pulleys. 
Marks of these structures are still to be seen. The springs gen- 
erally cease to flow in winter ; they are most copious when the 
snow has fallen in abundance, and continue from spring till 
autumn, after which their fountains are again sealed. The water 
has little taste or smell ; it bear some resemblance, in its mineral 
contents, to that of Ems, and is used both for bathing and 
drinking. 

From Ragatz General Grant and his party proceeded to Stras- 
bourg, passing through Zurich, and enjoying a delightful sail down 
the Lake of Zurich. 

The Lake of Zurich has no pretensions to grandeur of scenery ; 
that must be sought for on the silent and savage shores of the 
Lakes of Lucerne and Wallenstadt ; but it has a charm peculiarly 
its own — that of life and rich cultivation. Its borders are as a 
beehive, teeming with population, and are embellished and enliv- 
ened at every step by the work of man. The hills around it are 
less than 3,000 feet above the sea, and descend in gentle slopes 
to the water's edge ; wooded on their tops, clad with vineyards, 
orchards, and gardens on their sides, and carpeted below with 
verdant pastures, or luxuriantly waving crops of grain. But the 
principal feature in this landscape is the number of human habi- 
tations ; the hills from one extremity to the other are dotted with 
white houses, villas of citizens, cottages, and farms, while along 
the margin of the lake, and on the high road, they gather into 
frequent clusters around a church, forming villages and towns 
almost without number. Every little stream descending from the 
hill is compelled to do duty by turning some mill ; at the mouths 
of the valleys enormous factories are erected, and thus the shore 
of the lake, on either side, has the appearance of one vast and 
almost uninterrupted village. 

The effect of this lively foreground is heightened by the snowy 
peaks of the Sentis, Todi, and Glarnisch, which are seen at dif- 
ferent points peering above the nearer hills. The charms of the 
Lake of Zurich inspired the Idylls of Gessner: they are cele- 
brated in an ode of Klopstock, and in the prose of Zimmermann. 
The lake is 1,393 ^ eet above the sea, about twenty-six miles in 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. 149 

length from Zurich to Schmerikon, and not more than three 
broad at the widest part, between Stafa and Wadenschwyl. The 
greatest depth is 640 feet. The principal river falling into it is 
the Linth, which flows out at Zurich, under the name of Limmat. 

The City of Zurich has a population of 56,695 inhabitants. It 
is " situated at the northern extremity of the lake, the river Lim- 
mat passing through it. This is a stream of considerable volume, 
and its waters are so clear that the pebbles can be seen at a depth 
of some twelve or fifteen feet. The location of Zurich on the 
banks of the lake is one of surpassing beauty. The hills which 
surround it are green to the summit, gemmed with lovely villages 
and beautiful villas, whilst the snow-capped towers of the Alpine 
region fill up southward the distant view. Turning, as it were, 
their swords into pruning-hooks, the ramparts which formerly 
surrounded Zurich have been changed into delightful promenades 
and flower-gardens, the scene from which about sunset is en- 
chanting. 

"The inhabitants of Zurich are distinguished for their spirit 
and enterprise, and the numerous institutions of learning in the 
town have given it the name of the literary capital of Protestant 
Switzerland. They are quite puritanical, however, in their no- 
tions; so much so that there are no theatres allowed here, and 
to give a private ball special permission must be asked of the 
authorities. 

"There is probably less intoxicating liquor, or even beer, con- 
sumed in Zurich than in any city of its size in the world. Taverns 
or drinking-houses are very scarce, and these are confined mostly 
to the sale of beer and wine. Drunkenness is said to be almost 
unknown, and many other vices that prosper elsewhere have no 
existence here. There are no corner-loungers, everybody ap- 
pearing to have something to do and being intent upon doing it. 

"The streets of the city are elegantly paved and are kept 
scrupulously clean. The stone blocks used for paving are all 
precisely one size, cut for the purpose, being about four by two 
and a half inches upon the surface. 

"The drives around Zurich are neither very extensive nor 
attractive, and the chief source of amusement therefore is sailing 



150 AROUND THE WORLD. 

and boating on the lakes. A great many ladies can be seen 
every evening, out with their friends, handling the oars as grace- 
fully as a Spanish lady would her fan. The boys all have their 
neat little boats with oar-blades tipped with crimson, and take 
great pride in keeping them bright and beautiful. 

"Zurich has quite a number of popular institutions. There 
are here a university, which was established in 1833, a poly- 
technic school, in a magnificent building recently erected, a deaf 
and dumb institution, and one for the blind, an institution for 
medicine and surgery, and various educational institutions for 
the poor. It is noted as being the place where the Reformation 
first broke out in Switzerland ; and the cathedral in which 
Zuinglius, the great Reformer, first denounced the errors of the 
Church of Rome, in 15 19, is still standing. The Town Library 
is a large and spacious edifice, containing some fifty-five thousand 
volumes and a large collection of antiquities. Among the curi- 
osities in the Arsenal is exhibited what is claimed to be the iden- 
tical bow with which William Tell is said to have shot the apple 
from his son's head; though historians generally contend that 
Tell and his bow and apple are chiefly fictions of Schiller. The 
battle-axe, sword, and coat-of-mail of Zuinglius, which are also 
exhibited, are doubtless genuine. 

"The promenades in and about Zurich are numerous and de- 
lightful. The Hohe, or High Promenade, is one of the principal, 
and is reached by winding stairs, overlooking the whole city. A 
beautiful avenue of old linden trees surrounds them, and from 
the seats here provided the lake and surrounding country are 
spread out like a map. A monument is here erected to Hans 
Georg Nageli, the celebrated composer. 

"Very few of the private residences in Zurich have front doors 
on the street. They have side-yards, with a high iron gate in 
front, and the main entrance is on the side of the house, inside 
the gate. This is also the case with the banks and a great many 
wholesale business houses, which are not only shut in after this 
manner, but which have no signs up, and no indication of their 
business. Many of 'the stores, and especially the bakers' shops, 
are without front doors to their establishments. In the centre 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. 151 

of their front windows there is a sash on hinges, and a bell to 
pull. You pull the bell, and some one comes to the opening to 
serve you with what you may want. Others that have doors, 
and a fine display in their windows, keep them locked, and you 
must ring the bell to obtain admission. It is evidently not a very 
stirring town for retail trade, but what they have for sale is of 
extra quality. The confectionery establishments are equal to 
any in our large cities, and much better than we have met with 
either in France or Italy. The houses are generally four or five 
stories high, built of stone and rough-cast white, with green 
shutters. 

"The public buildings are constructed of blue sandstone, and 
most of them very elegant and elaborate in their architecture. 
The railroad depot is a grand structure of blue stone, adorned 
with statuary and sculpture. It has along its entire front, which 
is about five hundred feet, a high colonnade formed of heavy 
stone pillars. The waiting-rooms for passengers are elegantly 
fitted up." 

From Zurich General Grant proceeded direct to Strasbourg, 
intending to make a brief tour through Alsace and Lorraine, or 
rather to the principal points made memorable by the Franco- 
German war. 

Strasbourg, the old capital of Alsace, and until 1870 one of the 
most important cities of France, is situated on the river 111, about 
one mile from the junction of that stream with the Rhine, and 
opposite the fortified town of Kehl, on the Baden side of the 
Rhine. It is 250 miles distant from Paris. It contains 84,167 
inhabitants. It is now the capital of the German province of 
Elsoss. It formed a part of the old German Empire until 1681, 
when Louis XIV., of France, obtained possession of it by strata- 
gem. It was taken by the German army, after a severe siege, in 
1870, and was, with nearly the whole of the province of Alsace, 
annexed to Germany by the treaty of Frankfort, in 1871. 

Since the days of Louis XIV., Strasbourg has been a fortress 
of the first class. Its defensive works were executed by Vauban 
in 1682-84. The circuit of the rampart enclosing the city is six 
miles. The defences consist of a wall with bastions, ditches, and 



152 AROUND THE WORLD. 

outworks, and a strong citadel of five bastions, the outworks of 
which extend to the arm of the Rhine. The citadel lies im- 
mediately opposite to the town of Kehl, on the Baden side of 
the Rhine. At the outbreak of the war between France and 
Germany, the armament of the city consisted of four hundred 
pieces of cannon. Since its occupation by the Germans they 
have greatly increased the strength of its fortifications. " The 
Germans do not intend to be driven out of this fortress again 
if they can help it. The strongest side, as a French city, was 
towards the Rhine ; they are now making its strongest side 
towards France. Strasbourg is to be a German outpost, and the 
Kaiser, whatever the people may think of his seizing it, intends 
to hold the city at all hazards as one of the most valuable military 
positions in his possession on the Rhine frontier. 

"Strasbourg is not a pretty town or a large one, but it is the 
easiest to get lost in of any of the towns on the Rhine. The 
Germans have renamed all the streets and squares in their 
language, so that the old maps are of little use, and whilst 
the Cathedral spire is a sort of landmark, the streets are so 
crooked and most of them so narrow that the spire is difficult 
to find. The Alsace women, with the broad black bows tied on 
the backs of their head-dresses, give a picturesque view to the 
promenades in the few places that there are any." 

"The siege of Strasbourg by the Germans in the late war 
began August nth, 1870, and continued until September 27th, 
when the town was forced to capitulate. Not only the citadel on 
the east side of the town, and the main fortifications on the 
opposite side, together with many buildings near those points, 
were destroyed, but much damage was done to public and private 
edifices in 'all parts of the city. The damage to the Cathedral 
alone was estimated at one million four hundred thousand francs. 
The work of restoration is going steadily forward, and the 
government has dealt liberally with the inhabitants of Stras- 
bourg who suffered damage to their property during the siege. 
Many shops and houses have been rebuilt at government ex- 
pense. The city, which numbers nearly one hundred thousand 
inhabitants, is chiefly French in everything save its soldiery, and 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. 



153 



the Emperor William takes precautions to render this feature 
essentially Teutonic. The city is the head-quarters of the 
fifteenth corps of the German army, and there are generally 
stationed here some fifteen thousand soldiers. 

" The visitor to Strasbourg is struck by the ancient appearance 
of many of its houses, and by the presence of a large colony of 
storks on the housetops. The citizens regard the storks with 
great love and respect, and it is considered a good omen for the 




BOMBARDMENT OF STRASBOURG. 

citizen whose chimney-top or roof-tree is chosen by the birds for 
a resting-place." 

The chief attraction of Strasbourg is its famous Cathedral, 
which rises very conspicuously in the centre of the city. " It 
stands upon the site of a church founded by Clovis, about 510, 
and which was destroyed by lightning in 1007. The foundation 
of the present Cathedral was laid by Bishop Werner, of Haps- 
burg, in 1015, and the interior was completed in 1275. Under 
Bishop Conrad, of Lichtenberg, in 1277, the construction of the' 
facade was begun, by Erwin of Steinbach, and after the latter's 
death, in 13 18, the work was continued by his son John, who died 



154 AROUND THE WORLD. 

in 1339. The spire of the north tower was completed by John 
Hiiltz in 1439, but the south tower remains unfinished to the 
present day. The construction of the edifice having been super- 
intended by the ablest masters during four centuries, an oppor- 
tunity is afforded to trace the rise and progress of Gothic archi- 
tecture. The facade is the richest part of the whole structure. 
Its magnificent rose window is forty-two feet in diameter, and its 
three portals, which are adorned with scenes from the history of 
the Creation and Redemption, are regarded as being among the 
finest Gothic works in existence. In niches are equestrian statues 
of Clovis, Dagobert, and Rudolph of Hapsburg (all dating from 
1291), and of Louis XIV. (erected in 1823). In 1 793, several 
hundred statuettes were ruthlessly torn down and destroyed 
by the French revolutionists, and the beautiful spire only escaped 
the same fate from having been provided with a red republican 
cap, made of metal, as a protecting badge. The south portal of 
the church is adorned with sculptures by Sabina, the talented 
daughter of Erwin. The spire rises to the immense height 
of four hundred and sixty-five feet — to the same elevation as the 
loftiest of the Pyramids of Egypt, but twenty-seven feet less than 
the new spire of the Cathedral at Rouen. The church has been 
damaged many times by lightning, once by an earthquake, and in 
the memorable siege became a target for the Prussian guns, for 
the reason that the French maintained a post of observation on 
the elevated platform between the towers. Not only was the 
spire hit several times, but the organ was pierced by a shell, and 
the stained-glass windows were almost wholly ruined. On the 
night of the 25th of August, 1870, the roof caught fire, and a 
great portion of it tumbled in. For several years past workmen 
have been repairing the damage, and at the time of our visit the 
new dome seemed to be approaching completion. On the 4th 
of September, two shells hit the crown of the spire, and on the 
15th a shot entered the point below the cross, which was bent on 
one side, and caused to dariQfle from the iron bars of the 
li^htningr-conductor. 

"The interior of the church is three hundred and sixty-two feet 
in length, one hundred and thirty-five feet in width, and ninety- 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. I 55 

nine feet in height. It contains, in addition to some interesting 

O » fc> 

statues and monuments, the celebrated astronomical clock. The 
present clock was constructed by Schwilgue, a distinguished Stras- 
bourg mechanic, between 1838 and 1842, to replace a similar 
clock made by Conrad Dasypodius. There have been altogether 
three mechanical clocks in the Cathedral. The first was begun 

o 

as early as 1352. This occupied a position in the transept 
directly opposite the spot where Dasypodius built his clock (fin- 
ished in 1574), and where the present clock stands. The old 
clocks were marvels in their day, and the present one is far more 
elaborate than either. In addition to the mechanical figures 
which move about when the hours are struck, there are compli- 
cated devices to indicate various astronomical changes. For 
example, the old calendar was altered by M. Schwilgue into a 
.perpetual one, with the addition of the feasts that vary, according 
to their connection with Easter or Advent Sunday; an orrery, 
after the Copernican system, is made to present the mean tropi- 
cal revolutions of each of the planets visible to the naked eye; 
the phases of the moon and the eclipses of the sun and moon 
calculated for all time ; true time, and sidereal time is indicated ; 
and a celestial globe exhibits the precession of the equinoxes, to- 
gether with solar and lunar equations for the reduction of the 
mean geocentric ascension and declension of the sun and moon. 
A dial placed without the church, and showing the hours and 
days, is put in motion by the same mechanism. The movable 
statues attract the chief attention. On the first gallery, an angel 
strikes the quarters on a bell, while one of the genii reverses an 
hour-glass at the end of the hour. Death strikes the hours, and 
grouped around him to mark the quarters, are Childhood, Youth, 
Manhood, and Old Age. Under the first gallery, the symbolic 
deity of each day steps out from a niche — Apollo on Sunday, 
Diana on Monday, and so on. At noon, the twelve Apostles pass 
before the Saviour, to whom each one bows in turn, while the 
Saviour raises his hands to bless each one of them. During 
the movement of the figures, a cock crows thrice, and Satan 
peers forth as Peter goes by. 

" The Church of St. Thomas is an interesting structure. This 



156 AROUND THE WORLD. 

church contains a magnificent marble monument, by Pigalle, 
erected by Louis XV. to Marshal Saxe, who died in 1750. The 
design is in very questionable taste. The marshal is in the act 
of descending into the tomb, opened for his reception by Death, 
while a female figure, representing France, strives to detain him. 
Hercules, in mourning attitude, leans upon his club. On the left 
are an eagle, a lion, and a leopard, with the broken flags of Aus- 
tria, Holland, and England beneath, to commemorate the mar- 
shal's victories over those three nations in the Flemish wars. 
This work occupied Pigalle's time for twenty years. In a side 
chapel are two mummies, supposed to be the bodies of a Count 
of Nassau-Saarbrucken and his daughter, who died in the six- 
teenth century. There are two fine statues in Strasbourg, one in 
honor of Gutenberg, who made his first experiments in printing 
here about the year 1436, and the other to Kleber, the French 
general. The house occupied by Goethe, who graduated at the 
University of Strasbourg as a Doctor of Laws in 1 771, is indicated 
by a marble slab. The Brand-Strasse, or Rue Brulee, is a street 
marking the spot where two thousand Jews were burned in 1349, 
because they refused to be baptized." 

General Grant also visited the city of Metz, once a part of 
France, but now a German fortress. Metz contains a population 
of 54,817 inhabitants. It is beautifully situated in a fertile valley, 
encircled for the most part by hills, at the junction of the little 
river Seille with the Moselle, was, under the name of Divodurum, 
the oppidwu Mediomatricorum of the Romans. At the death of 
Clovis in 510, it fell to his son Thierry I., and remained the capital 
of Austrasia until absorbed in the dominions of Charlemagne. 
Under the Emperor Otho II. it became a free imperial city and 
the residence of a Prince-Bishop, but in 1552 the Constable of 
Montmorency obtained possession of it for Henry II., and France 
retained it, owing to the obstinate and heroic defence of the place 
by the Due de Guise and the Prince de Conde, in spite of the 
desperate effort of the Emperor Charles V. to recover it. The 
latter did not retire from its walls until the siege had lasted ten 
months and cost him 30,000 men. Greatly strengthened in its 
fortifications by Vauban and Belleisle, it became the chief town of 



GENERAL GRANT ON THE CONTINENT. 1 57 

the Department de la Moselle and the bulwark of France on its 
northeastern frontier, retaining the name of La Pucelle, as never 
having succumbed to an enemy, until, in October, 1870, the unto- 
ward capitulation of the French army placed it in the hands of the 
Germans, to whom it was annexed as part of Lorraine by the 
Treaty of Frankfort in the following year. 

Metz possesses a fine Cathedral, a part of which dates from 
the fourteenth century. The steeple is 385 feet high, and from 
the top of it a splendid view is obtained of the city, the surround- 
ing forts and the battle-fields in the vicinity. On the Place 
d' Armes there is a fine statue of Marshal Fabert, who distin- 
guished himself in the wars of Louis XIV. ; and in the Place 
Royale is a bronze statue of Marshal Ney, who was born at Metz. 

A few miles from Metz are the battle-fields of Vionville and 
Gravelotte, on which were fought two of the most terrible and 
important battles of modern history, and which decided the 
destiny of Metz and Lorraine. 

From the Rhine General Grant proceeded to Belgium, reach- 
ing Antwerp on the 21st of August. His Continental tour was 
now ended, and he set his face towards England, reaching 
London on the 27th, and taking up his quarters at the Hotel 
Bristol. 



CHAPTER IV. 

GENERAL GRANT VISITS SCOTLAND AND THE MIDLAND COUNTIES OF 

ENGLAND. 

General Grant Visits Edinburgh — Is the Guest of the Lord Provost — Presented with the Free- 
dom of the City — Description of Edinburgh — The Castle — Holyrood Palace — St. Giles' 
— The Streets of Edinburgh — Visit to Dundee — Melrose Abbey — Abbotsford — Visit to 
Dunrobin Castle — The Duke of Sutherland — Visit to Thurso Castle — At Inverness — Elgin 
— Visit to Glasgow — Presented with the Freedom of the City — Glasgow — Visit to Ayr — 
Memories of Burns — Loch Lomond — Inverary — Visit to the Duke of Argyle — General 
Grant Returns to England — Visit to Newcastle-on-Tyne — A Flattering Reception — A Trip 
Down the Tyne — Grand Popular Demonstration in Honor of General Grant — An Outpour- 
ing of the People — The Workingmen's Address — Reply of General Grant — Visit to Sun- 
derland — Grant lays another Corner-stone — Arrival at Sheffield — Reception by the City 
Authorities — The Manufactories — Visit to Stratford-on-Avon — Shakespeare's Home — At 
Leamington — Kenilworth — Warwick Castle — A Rest at Southampton — General Grant visits 
Birmingham — Reception by the Municipal Authorities — -Visits to the Manufactories of Bir- 
mingham — General Grant at Brighton — The English Paris — A Beautiful City. 




ENERAL GRANT, having promised to visit Scotland, 
determined to devote to that purpose the first weeks 
following his return from the Continent. He proceeded 
direct from London to Edinburgh, where he arrived on the 31st 
of August. He was received by the Lord Provost in a speech 
marked by eloquence and warmth of feeling, and was the guest 
of that high official during his stay in Scotland. Among the 
honors shown him was the presentation of the freedom of the 
city. This ceremony took place at the Free Assembly Hall, and 
in the presence of some two thousand of the principal citizens of 
Edinburgh. The Lord Provost's address was hearty and cordial, 
and General Grant said in reply: 

" I am so filled with emotion that I hardly know how to thank 
you for the honor conferred upon me by making me a burgess of 
this ancient City of Edinburgh. I feel that it is a great compli- 
ment to me and to my country. Had I eloquence, I might dwell 
somewhat on the history of the great men you have produced, or 
(158) 




(159) 



1 60 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the numerous citizens of this city and Scotland that have gone to 
America, and the record they have made. We are proud of 
Scotchmen as citizens of America. They make good citizens of 
our country, and they find it profitable to themselves. (Laughter.) 
I again thank you for the honor you have conferred upon me." 

General Grant visited the various points of interest in Edin- 
burgh during his stay in that city, and was greatly pleased with 
the beauty and splendor of the Scottish Metropolis. 

The City of Edinburgh is situated on two ridges of hills, about 
two miles distant from the Firth of Forth. It contains a popula- 
tion of 200,000 inhabitants, and is a busy, thriving place. The 
city does not cover a very large area, but in proportion to its size 
is one of the most beautiful as well as one of the most maonifi- 
cent of any of the European capitals. It is divided into two 
towns, called the Old and the New, by a deep ravine which runs 
through the entire length of the city. This ravine was once an 
unsightly morass, and both a deformity and a source of ill health 
to the city. It has been drained, and is now laid out in a series 
of beautiful flower gardens, and is crossed by a handsome bridge 
and a mound which join the two sections of the city. The more 
elevated ridge of hills is occupied by the Castle and the old town. 
On the lower ridge lies the new town, and along the north mar- 
gin of the valley runs a broad, splendid thoroughfare known as 
Princes Street. The railway lines connecting Edinburgh with 
the principal parts of the kingdom enter the city through the 
valley, and being thus placed far below the grade of the streets 
are prevented from being an obstruction to the traffic of the 
city, and are enabled to reach a central terminus in the very heart 
of the town. 

The difference between the old and new towns is very marked, 
not only in the character of the buildings, but in the streets also. 
In the old town the population has always been very dense, and 
the streets are narrow and crooked, and the buildings very tall, 
sometimes reaching ten or twelve stories. They are solidly built, 
and have a dark, gloomy aspect, which is in marked contrast with 
the lightness and brightness of the newer section of the city. The 
new town is built chiefly on the plains south of the Castle, and 



GENERAL GRANT VISITS SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND. l6l 

its streets are broad, handsomely laid off, and lined by elegant 
buildings of the modern kind. Princes Street is one of the most 
beautiful avenues in Europe. Its north side borders the gardens 
which now occupy the valley, and its south side contains some of 
the handsomest buildings in the city, including the principal hotels. 
Along the line of the gardens are the beautiful Scott Memorial,' 
erected in memory of the great Sir Walter, and the statues of 
Professor John Wilson (Christopher North) ; Allan Ramsay, the 
sweet poet of Nature; Dr. David Livingstone; and the Duke of 
Wellington. The Scott Memorial is a beautiful Gothic structure, 
two hundred and sixty feet high, open at the bottom, and con- 
taining- a marble statue of Sir Walter Scott, and a number of 
niches occupied by statuettes representing his principal charac- 
ters, and effigies of the principal Scottish poets. In Charlotte 
Square, in the new town, is a handsome equestrian statue of 
Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, and in St. An- 
drew's Square is a column and statue, one hundred and fifty feet 
high, in memory of Lord Melville. 

Calton Hill, in the eastern part of the city, is the site of the 
Royal Observatory, the Nelson Monument, the unfinished National 
Monument, an imitation of the Parthenon at Athens, the monu- 
ments to Robert Burns, Dugald Stewart, and Professor Play fair, 
and the handsome buildings of the Hio-h School. At the base 
of the hill is the grim castle-like Bridewell, or city prison. The 
view from Calton Hill is very beautiful. It commands the whole 
city and the surrounding country. To the west rise up dark and 
stern the rugged hill crowned with the frowning old Castle, and 
portions of the old and new towns with the valley and the rail- 
way stretching away between them. On the south are Salisbury 
Crags and Arthur's Seat, with Holy rood Palace and Abbey at 
their feet, and in the distance the hills of Lammermoor, and, 
farther still, the Pentland Hills. Northward is the Firth of 
Forth, with Leith, the port of Edinburgh, clinging to its shore, 
and beyond it the dark hills of Fife and the distant outline of 
Ithe Highlands. To the east is the broad, open sea stretching 
away to the horizon. 

The chief sight of Edinburgh is the Castle. It stands on the 



1 62 AROUND THE WORLD. 

summit of a lofty and abrupt hill, and commands the city and 
surrounding country. Its origin is unknown, but it is certain 
that a fortress stood here in the time of the Picts, and the 
^egends state that the Pictish kings kept their daughters here 
until the time of their marriage. The fortress as it now stands 
dates from the Fifteenth Century, with the exception of the little 
Norman chapel, which was built by the mother of David I., who 
died here in 1093. In old times Edinburgh Castle was regarded 
as impregnable, although, in 131 3, Randolph, Earl of Moray, 
captured it from the English. Modern artillery would soon re- 
duce it now. It is one of the fortresses which by the articles of 
union between England and Scotland must be kept fortified. It 
is rich in historical interest, and was the scene of many important 
events in the troubled history of Scotland. James VI. of Scot- 
land, and afterwards James I. of England, was born here, in a 
little room which is shown to visitors, and the castle was the 
birth-place and home of many of the Scottish sovereigns. Many 
interesting relics are preserved here, among which is the Re- 
galia of Scotland, which was discovered in 18 18 after a dis- 
appearance of 1 10 years. 

Holyrood Palace is another deeply interesting place. It lies 
at the foot of Salisbury Crags, and was founded in 1501 by James 
IV. Much of the present edifice dates from the reign of Charles 
II. of England. Adjoining it, but distinct from it, is the Abbey 
of Holyrood, founded by David I., in 1 1 28. The palace is open 
to visitors, and contains many objects of interest. Among these 
are the apartments of the ill-fated Queen Mary. Here she was 
married to Darnley ; here Rizzio was murdered ; and here the 
Queen was married to her third husband, the Earl of Bothwell. 

Edinburgh contains many noble institutions devoted to litera- 
ture, science, and art, and these are of so high a character as to 
have won for the city the proud name of " the Modern Athens." 

St. Giles's Cathedral is the principal church. It is an irregular 
Gothic building, said to have been founded in the Ninth Century, 
and rebuilt in 1359. It was the scene of many important events 
in the religious history of Scotland. It has been much modern- 
ized, and is now divided into four churches. John Knox thun- 




PALACE "OF HOLYROOD. 



(I6 3 ) 



164 AROUND THE WORLD. 

dered forth in it his fiery appeals in behalf of the Reformation. 
When the Liturgy of Archbishop Laud was introduced into 
Scotland, the south end of the transept, which was used as the 
"Old Kirk," became the scene of a very amusing incident. The 
Bishop of Edinburgh held service there, after the form prescribed 
by Laud. He had just asked the Dean to read the Collect for 
the day, when a woman named Jenny Geddes attempted to stop 
him bv hurling at his head the stool on which she was sitting. 
He dodged it, but the blow was fatal to the effort to force 
Episcopacy upon Reformed Scotland. 

Chief among the points of interest in Edinburgh are the streets 
of the old town. " To get a view of the old town, a walk along' 
the High Street, and into the famous Canongate, is the best way. 
There are tall, weird, old houses on either hand, and among' 
them the narrow home of John Knox, a strange-looking build- 
ing, adjoining a church. Nearly every house in these two streets 
is historically famous, and out of these streets run curious alleys 
known as closes, and bearing quaint names, such as ' Big Jock's 
close,' ' Bakehouse close,' ' Strathie's close,' etc. All these old 
houses, some of which are sad-looking rookeries, were in former 
days the homes of the nobility. The dukes and earls of the 
olden time were evidently satisfied with very rude accom- 
modations." 

" From the Palace of Holyrood," says another writer, " a 
straight thoroughfare leads up the hill, through the heart of the 
old town, to the castle. The distance is about a mile, but dif- 
ferent portions of the street bear no less than five different 
names, to wit: Canongate, the Netherbow, High Street, the 
Lawnmarket (Linenmarket), and Castle Hill. Every foot of 
the way has historic or romantic interest. Near the foot of 
Canongate, approached through a court-yard, is the ancient 
White Horse Inn, one of the oldest hostelries in Edinburgh, 
but now a neglected tenement-house. It was here that Johnson 
was entertained on his visit to Edinburgh. Near this is the 
Abbey Court House and Sanctuary for Debtors. The Canon- 
gate Church, the Canongate Tolbooth, and Moray House, are 
other ancient and interesting edifices at the lower end of this 



GENERAL GRANT VISITS SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND. 1 65 

thoroughfare. At the Netherbow, we came to the house of that 
sturdy old Reformer, John Knox, provided for him when he was 
elected minister of Edinburgh, in 1559, and in which he continued 
to reside until his death, in 1572. Upon the corner, near a win- 
dow from which he is said to have preached to the populace, is 
a rude effigy of a minister in a pulpit, pointing to the name of 
God carved upon a stone above, in Greek, Latin, and English. 

"The house is open to the public on certain days, at an admis- 
sion fee of sixpence. Just above, on the left, or south side, is the 
old Tron Church, and on the opposite side of the way, No. 177 
High street, is the cellar in which the Commissioners appointed 
to sign the Articles of Union, in 1707, secretly met and completed 
their compact, an enraged mob having driven them from their 
first meeting-place at Moray House. At No. 155 was Allan 
Ramsay's book-shop. In this neighborhood are many of the 
ancient closes and wynds, some of which, though marrow and 
contracted, formerly held the abiding places of princes, cardinals, 
archbishops, bishops and peers. In Blackfriars wynd, a narrow 
alley now modernized into Blackfriars street, dwelt the princely 
St. Clair, Earl of Orkney, whose dame was attended by 'seventy- 
five gentlewomen, whereof fifty-three were daughters of noblemen, 
all clothed in velvets and silks, with their chains of gold.' Up 
through this dismal pathway, at eleven o'clock, on the evening of 
the 10th of February, 1567, her attendants going before with 
lighted torches, passed Queen Mary, on her way home to Holy- 
rood Palace, from her last visit to the fated Darnley, just three 
hours before his murder. . . . Continuing up High street, we 
reach St. Giles's Cathedral. . . . 

" In the rear of St. Giles's, the Parliament House and Law 
Courts are situated, and the intermediate space was originally 
the parish cemetery of St. Giles's Church. Many notable men 
were here interred, including John Knox, whose grave is indi- 
cated by a small flat stone near the equestrian statue of Charles 
II. The site of the old Tolbooth, or 'The Heart of Midlothian,' 
as the prison of Edinburgh was called (built in 1561 for the ac- 
commodation of Parliament and the Courts, as well as for the 
confinement of malefactors, and torn down in 181 7), is shown by 



1 66 AROUND THE WORLD. 

a heart of stone — a fitting symbol — in the pathway near one cor- 
ner of the church. The great hall of the Parliament House is a 
lofty and handsome apartment. Since the time of the Union it 
has served as a hall for the practitioners in the Courts, and it is 
adorned with statues and portraits of eminent jurists. Nearly 
opposite St. Giles's is the Royal Exchange, a building occupied 
largely as offices in the administration of municipal affairs, and 
just above is the County Hall, built, like many other modern 
edifices in Edinburgh, after a Grecian model. 

"At this latter point, George IV. Bridge turns southward across 
the little valley which becomes below the narrow, dirty, forbid- 
ding street known as Cowgate, and farther on, below the castle, 
the Grassmarket, which has been the scene of so many execu- 
tions. The bridge leads in the direction of the University, the 
new and old Greyfriars Churches, and Heriot's Hospital. This 
latter institution, with its numerous dependent free schools, is 
something of which Edinburgh has reason to feel proud ; while 
its celebrated university (founded in 1582), with its museum and 
library, is a source of national pride. In the churchyard of 
Greyfriars rest many illustrious dead, and an innumerable com- 
pany of Christian martyrs. In a desolate corner on the south 
side of the yard, about twelve hundred Covenanters, prisoners 
taken at Bothwell Bridge, were confined for the space of five 
months, and subjected to many cruelties. 

"Continuing up through the Lawnmarket from High street, 
Castle Hill and the Esplanade are soon reached." 

It would not be possible to mention all the attractions of Edin- 
burgh within the limits assigned us, so we have only called 
attention to a few of the most prominent which were visited and 
enjoyed by General Grant. 

On the evening of the day of his arrival in Scotland, General 
Grant dined with the Lord Provost, and met Major-General 
Stewart, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Arm) in Scotland, 
and several other distinguished officers. 

The next day, Saturday, September 1st, an excursion was made 
to the Tay Bridge, after which the party sailed across the Firth 
of Tay in the steamtug " Elsinore," and landed at Dundee, which 



1 68 AROUND THE WORLD. 

city is picturesquely situated on the north side of the Firth, and 
contains 118,974 inhabitants. It is the third city in Scotland as 
regards population and commercial wealth, being largely engaged 
in the manufacture of linen and of jute carpeting. It possesses 
a series of fine docks, and is engaged in an active trade with the 
various parts of Scotland and with England. It is a place of 
great antiquity, and has played an important part in the wars be- 
tween Scotland and England. From Dundee General Grant and 
his party visited Tayport, at the mouth of the Firth, and returned 
to Edinburgh on the 3d. From Edinburgh an excursion was 
made to Melrose Abbey, one of the grandest ruins of Europe, 
and to Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter Scott during his later 
years. 

On the 4th of September General Grant went to Dunrobin 
Castle, on a visit to the Duke of Sutherland. He was met by 
the Duke before reaching Dunrobin, and was escorted by him to 
the castle. This magnificent castle is situated in the midst of 
lovely and extensive grounds, on the north side of Dornock 
Firth, and is one of the finest in Europe. It was founded in 1097 
by Robert, second Earl of Sutherland, from whom it takes its 
name of Dunrobin. Additions have been made to it by almost 
every succeeding generation, and it is now one of the most 
sumptuous residences in the Old World. The entrance hall is 
especially beautiful, being lined with white polished stone and 
huno- with banners. The castle commands a fine view of both 
Dornock and Moray Firths. The estate of the Duke of Suther- 
land is very extensive, and the present Duke has done much to 
improve it, and to advance the interests of his tenants. The 
General passed several days with him, and received from him 
much important information concerning the agricultural system 
and resources of Scotland. On the 6th of September he visited 
the horticultural fair of Dornock in company with the Duke, and 
on the 7th, accompanied by his grace, went to Thurso Castle to 
visit Sir Tollemache Sinclair. At the town of Thurso, which 
stands on die banks of the river of the same name, and which 
was once the principal port of Scotland for the trade with Norway 
and Sweden, the General was received by the volunteers of the 



GENERAL GRANT VISITS SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND. 1 69 

artillery and rifle corps, and was met by Sir Tollemache Sinclair; 
after which the party proceeded to Thurso Castle, which lies east 
of the town. 

From Thurso General Grant went to Inverness, where he was 
received by the Provost, who presented him with an address. 
He said, in the course of his remarks, that the people of the 
Highlands had a right to be proud of General Grant, as he bore 
the name of a well-known and honored Highland clan. Inver- 
ness is the chief town of the Scottish Highlands, and contains 
15,000 inhabitants. It is built on both sides of the river Ness, 
and is of great antiquity. It has an interesting history, and is 
the scene of a part of Shakespeare's play of Macbeth. Its prin- 
cipal festival is the gathering of the Clans, on the 26th of Sep- 
tember, when the Highland games are prolonged several days. 
On the nth of September the General visited the town of Elgin, 
a picturesque place finely situated on the banks of the Leslie. 

On the 13th of September General Grant made a visit to 
Glasgow, and was formally presented with the freedom of the 
city. The ceremony took place in the Town Hall, one of the 
largest halls in the city, which was filled with an audience repre- 
senting the most prominent citizens of the place. The Lord 
Provost, addressing General Grant in a complimentary speech, 
delivered to him the address of the Common Council in which 
the honorary freedom of the city was conferred upon him. This 
address stated that the Common Council of the city of Glasgow 
admitted and received, and hereby admit "and receive, General 
Ulysses Simpson Grant, ex-President of the United States of 
America, to be a burgess and guild brother of the city and royal 
burgh of Glasgow, in recognition of his distinguished abilities as 
a statesman and administrator, his successful efforts in the noble 
work of emancipating his country from the horrors of slavery, 
and of his great services in promoting commerce and amity 
between the United States and Great Britain." 

The reading of this address was received with great applause. 
General Grant replied as follows: 

"I rise to thank you for the great honor that has been con- 
ferred upon me this day by making me a free buro-ess of this 



170 AROUND THE WORLD. 

great city of Glasgow. The honor is one that I shall cherish, 
and I shall always remember this day. When I am back in my 
own country, I will be able to refer with pride not only to my 
visit to Glasgow, but to all the different towns in this kingdom 
that I have had the pleasure and honor of visiting." (Applause.) 
"I find that I am being made so much a citizen of Scotland, it 
will become a serious question where I shall go to vote." (Laugh- 
ter and applause.) "You have railroads and other facilities for 
getting from one place to another, and I might vote frequently 
in Scotland by starting early. I do not know how you punish 
that crime over here; it is a crime that is very often practised by 
people who come to our country and become citizens there by 
adoption. In fact, I think they give the majority of the votes. I 
do not refer to Scotchmen particularly, but to naturalized citi- 
zens. But to speak more seriously, ladies and gentlemen, I feel 
the honor of this occasion, and I beg to thank you, ladies and 
gentlemen of this city of Glasgow, for the kind words of your 
Lord Provost, and for the kind expression of this audience." 

Glasgow, the city of which General Grant was thus made an 
honorary freeman, is the commercial metropolis of Scotland, and 
contains 500,000 inhabitants. It is situated on both sides of the 
Clyde, at the head of navigation, the principal portion of the city 
lying on the north bank of the river. The Clyde is lined with 
handsome stone quays, and is crossed by five bridges. Vessels 
of over 1,000 tons are obliged to stop at Greenock, twenty miles 
lower down the Clyde. Glasgow is largely engaged in manufac- 
tures, and carries on an active commerce with all parts of the 
world. The first steam-vessel ever built in Europe was launched 
here, and James Watt, the inventor of the steam-engine, was a 
native of Glasgow. 

Glasgow is plentifully supplied with pure water, which is 
brought by means of aqueducts and tunnels from Loch Katrine, 
thirty-four miles distant. The city is substantially and hand- 
somely built, and has more of an American aspect than any other 
town in Europe. 

The chief sight of Glasgow is the Cathedral, erected in the 
twelfth century. It is situated "in a most picturesque position, 



sw 



1 1; 




1 if. 










172 AROUND THE WORLD. 

partly surmounted by an old churchyard called the Necropolis, the 
finest cemetery in the city, which rises in terraces in the back- 
ground, and contains some very beautiful monuments." The 
grounds of the Necropolis are handsomely planted with flowers. 
The Cathedral is thought by many to rank next to Westminster 
Abbey among the architectural monuments of Great Britain. 
The Royal Exchange is the finest building in the city. It is 
built in the Corinthian style of architecture, and cost a million 
and a quarter of dollars. The city is well supplied with educa- 
tional and benevolent institutions. The University ot Glasgow 
holds a deservedly high rank throughout the civilized world. 

Glasgow has borne a prominent part in the history of Scotland, 
and is rich in historical associations. In the beautiful Queen's 
Park was fought the important battle of Langside, in which the 
Regent Murray defeated Queen Mary and caused her to take 
refuge in England. 

On the 14th of September the General visited Ayr, in the 
vicinity of which the poet Burns was born. The humble cottage 
in which he saw the light, the "Twa Brigs," "Alloway's auld 
haunted Kirk," the tomb of the poet, and the other points of 
interest, were each visited in their turn, the excursion being one 
of the pleasantest of the General's tour. The next excursion 
was through the picturesque region of Lochs Lomond and 
Katrine, at the close of which General Grant and his party went 
to Inverary, the county-town of Argyleshire. Here they spent a 
day or two, as the guest of the Duke of Argyle, at his fine seat 
of Inverary Castle, which lies about a quarter of a mile from the 
town. General Grant and the Duke conceived a warm friend- 
ship for each other, and during his subsequent travels the General 
often declared that no part of his sojourn in Europe had pleased 
him more than his visit to the Duke of Argyle. 

General Grant now set out on his return to England. His 
route lay through the manufacturing districts of that kingdom, 
and everywhere he was welcomed with enthusiasm. He left 
Edinburgh on Wednesday, September 19th, and arrived at New- 
castle on Thursday, the 20th. An immense crowd had assembled 
around the depot to welcome him, and upon alioriting from the 



GENERAL GRANT VISITS SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND. 1 73 

train he was cordially received by the Mayor, Sir William Arm- 
strong, and the other city authorities. The houses of the town were 
gayly decorated, and the bells of the old church of St. Nicholas 
chimed a joyful greeting. General and Mrs. Grant drove direct 
to the Mansion House, the residence of the Mayor, whose guests 
they were to be. In response to the calls of the crowd without, 
they appeared on the balcony, and were loudly cheered. In the 
eVening they dined with the Mayor and 200 invited guests. 

On Friday morning, the 21st, the General and his party began 
their inspection of the sights of the town. Newcastle-upon-Tyne 
lies on the north bank of the Tyne, about ten miles above its 
mouth, and contains 111,157 inhabitants. It was originally a 
Roman military station, and under the Saxons was called Monk- 
chester, because of the number of its monasteries. It derives its 
present name from the castle erected by Robert, son of William 
the Conqueror. The business sections are dingy and dirty, but 
the private portions of the city are magnificently built. New- 
castle is largely engaged in the manufacture of iron and other 
articles, but its principal industry is the shipment of coals, of 
which it ships over 7,109,000 tons annually. 

The General visited the old Castle, of which the keep (now 
used as a prison) and the beautiful Norman chapel are still pre- 
served ; the beautiful Gothic church of St. Nicholas ; and the 
Exchange. At the last-named place, an address was presented 
to the General by the Newcastle and Gateshead Incorporated 
Chamber of Commerce, in which the natural wealth, the manu- 
factures, and commerce of the Tyne district were explained, and 
this prosperity declared to be the result of free trade. " The 
various branches of the iron trade," the address continued, 
" includes melting the ore into pig iron, the manufacture of all 
kinds of wrought iron, rails, machines, ordnance, and the building 
of iron vessels, for which our river is famous. The shipment of 
coal from the town exceeds 7,109,000 tons per annum, and the 
number of vessels annually leaving the river, engaged in the 
coal trade, or loaded with the produce of our manufactories, is 
larger than the number leaving any other port in the world." 

General Grant replied in suitable terms to this address, and the 



174 AROUND THE WORLD. 

party then drove to the new Tyne Swing Bridge, which was in- 
spected. They then embarked on the steamer " Commodore," 
which was accompanied by another boat, called the " Lord Col- 
lingwood," on which were a large number of the leading citizens 
of the borough. The band of the First Northumberland Volun- 
teer Artillery were stationed on the " Commodore." The boats 
left the new quay in company about one o'clock, and steamed to 
Wallsend, amid the cheers of the crowds that lined the banks of 
the river. The shipping was decorated with flags, and salutes 
from cannon and the blowing of foo- and steam whistles made a 
noisy demonstration. The General took his position in the for- 
ward part of his boat, and bowed his acknowledgments as she 
passed along. A short pause was made at the training ship 
■" Wellesley," to witness the discipline of the vessel, and then the 
Tyne pier, at the bar, was examined, after which the party pro- 
ceeded to Tynemouth, where General Grant went ashore, and was 
presented with a complimentary address of welcome, to which he 
replied cordially. Then followed a display by the Life Brigade 
of Tyneside, which amply demonstrated the efficiency of this 
force in relieving vessels in distress. 

On the 2 2d of September there was a grand demonstration of 
the workingmen of Newcastle in honor of General Grant. The 
day was one of the most memorable in the annals of the town. 
"Not since the great demonstration of 1873," said The Chronicle, 
in its report of the ceremonies the next morning, " has the grass 
of the town-moor been covered by so vast an assembly around a 
platform, as that to receive General Grant. It was estimated that 
no less than eighty thousand people were around the platform 
when Mr. Burt, M. P., read the address." The city was gayly 
decorated, flags and streamers of all nations waving in the crisp, 
bracing air, and the streets were thronged with people in holiday 
attire. From early morning crowds poured into Newcastle from 
the surrounding districts, the railways running frequent trains to 
accommodate them. 

A grand procession escorted General Grant from his quarters 
to the Town-moor. It was composed of the various trades soci- 
eties and industrial and benevolent associations of the city and 



GENERAL GRANT VISITS SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND. 1 75 

vicinity, each bearing its distinctive banners, together with others 
inscribed with mottoes complimentary to General Grant. The 
General was loudly cheered as he rode along, and as he ascended 
the platform at the Town-moor and advanced to the front of it 
the applause was overwhelming. The platform was reached 
about half-past three o'clock. The Mayor called the meeting to 
order, and then Mr. Burt, in a few well-chosen words, presented 
to General Grant the following address, which was handsomely 
engrossed and bound: 

" General : In the name of the working classes of Northum- 
berland and Durham, we welcome you to Tyneside, and we are 
proud of the opportunity afforded us of expressing to you our 
admiration for the noble deeds which have made you famous in 
the history of your country, and the welcome guest of English- 
men. 

"At the outbreak of the American civil war, when called upon 
by your country to defend its honor and wipe from its character 
the stain of slavery, we are mindful that you entered upon that 
work with prompt zeal and unfailing fortitude ; and we are sen- 
sible that the courage which sustained you during that dark 
period of American history, was not the courage which enables 
a soldier merely to face death, but that nobler courage which 
springs from a consciousness of duty. 

" In those hard-fought battles, in which your great abilities as 
a soldier were displayed, and which won for you the absolute 
confidence of that pure and noble-minded martyr, Abraham 
Lincoln, you had the entire sympathy of the working classes 
of England ; and we are all the more proud on that account in 
honoring you to-day as a faithful and distinguished son of 
America — a splendid soldier and a wise and prudent statesman. 

" Though you are skilled in the art of war, we are pleased to 
regard you as a man of peace ; but the peace which commands 
your sympathy must be founded on the eternal laws of equity 
and justice. The rough scenes of war have no charms for you ; 
but we believe if duty called you would be ready to strike again 
for the consecration of noble principles. 

" General ! you are imperishably associated with the glorious 



I76 AROUND THE WORLD. 

issue of the American civil war, and posterity will assign you a 
conspicuous place on the roll of the world's heroes. Mankind 
will not forget that you have caused the ' Stars and Stripes ' to 
float more proudly than ever over the Republic, and we rejoice 
to know that our kinsmen have testified their gratitude by twice 
electing you to the highest office in the United States. We, who' 
are bound to them by a relationship which no circumstances can 
sever, join them in a grateful recognition of your services. 

"Again, we welcome you as a most successful statesman, in 
whose custody the honor and interests of a noble nation were 
safely intrusted. 

"The onerous duties which devolved upon you on your acces- 
sion to the Presidency of the United States could not have been 
so ably discharged had you possessed less coolness, courage, and 
tenacity of purpose ; and we greet you with sincere esteem for 
pursuing a conciliatory and peaceful policy toward this country, 
especially during the consideration of the difficulties between 
England and America. 

" The terrible consequences which might have resulted to both 
countries had you adopted a hostile policy are harrowing to con- 
template, and we are glad to know that you so largely contributed 
to the preservation of peace and the amicable settlement of the 
Alabama question. 

"History will chronicle the proceeding at Geneva as a grand 
achievement of civilization, and with it, you, General, will ever be 
identified. In favoring the principle of international arbitration 
you have earned the applause of the civilized world, and we 
readily acknowledge the great blessings which that mode of 
settling the difficulties of nations has already conferred on your 
country and ours. 

" It has cemented us more firmly together in the bonds of 
peace and friendship, and we are sure that no one is more 
desirous than yourself that the people of England and America, 
who are of one blood, and whose interests are identical, should 
draw more closely together, so that the future history of the two 
nations may be one of unbroken concord. 

"And now, General, in our final words we greet you as a sin- 



GENERAL GRANT VISITS SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND. 1 77 

cere friend of labor. Having attested again and again your 
deep solicitude for the industrial classes, and having also nobly 
proclaimed the dignity of labor by breaking the chains of the 
slave, you are entitled to our sincere and unalloyed gratitude ; 
and our parting wish is, that the general applause which you have 
received in your own country, and are now receiving in this, for 
the many triumphs which you have so gloriously achieved, may be 
succeeded by a peaceful repose, and that the sunset of your life 
may be attended with all the blessings that this earth can afford. 

"General! we beg your acceptance of this address as a 
testimony of the high regard and admiration in which you 
are held among the working people of Northumberland and 
Durham." 

When the applause had subsided — and it was some time be- 
fore it did so — General Grant made the following reply: 

" Mr. Burt and Workingmen : Through you I will return 
thanks to the people of Tyneside for the very acceptable wel- 
come address which you have just read. I accept from that class 
of people the reception which they have accorded me, as among 
the most honorable. We all know that but for labor we would 
have very little that is worth fighting for, and when wars do come 
they fall upon the many, the producing class, who are the suf- 
ferers. They not only have to furnish the means largely, but 
they have, by their labor and industry, to produce the means for 
those who are engaged in destroying and not in producing. I 
was always a man of peace, and I have always advocated peace, 
although educated a soldier. I never willingly, although I have 
gone through two wars, of my own accord advocated war." (Loud 
cheers.) " I advocated what I believe to be right, and I have fought 
for it to the best of my ability in order that an honorable peace 
might be secured. You have been pleased to allude to the 
friendly relations existing between the two great nations on both 
sides of the Atlantic. They are now most friendly, and the 
friendship has been increasing. Our interests are so identified, 
we are so much related to each other, that it is my sincere hope, 
and it has been the sincere hope of my life, and especially of my 
official life, to maintain that friendship. I entertain views of the 



178 AROUND THE WORLD. 

progress to be made in the future by the union and friendship 
of the great English-speaking people, for I believe that it will 
result in the spread of our language, our civilization, and our 
industry, and be for the benefit of mankind generally." (Cheers.) 
" I do not know, Mr. Burt, that there is anything more for me to 
say, except that I would like to communicate to the people whom 
I see assembled before me here this day how greatly I feel the 
honor which they have conferred upon me." (Cheers.) 

Then followed a speech from General Fairchild, the Consul of 
the United States at Liverpool, and who had lost an arm during 
the Civil War in this country. Speaking simply as an American 
citizen, he returned thanks to the people before him for their 
magnificent reception " of our great chief, General Grant." The 
procession then passed in review before General Grant, and the 
demonstration closed with three cheers for the General and one 
for Mrs. Grant. 

In the evening the General was entertained at a public banquet 
at the Assembly Rooms, and in response to a toast proposing his 
health made a neat reply, in which he dwelt strongly upon the 
advantages of the friendship between England and America. 

Sunday, the 23d of September, was spent by the General and 
Mrs. Grant with W. H. Charlton, Esq., at his beautiful country- 
seat of Hesley Side. 

From Newcastle the General and his party went to Sunder- 
land, where he had promised to lay the foundation of a new mu- 
seum in the southwest part of the Park. They arrived there on 
Monday, September 24th, just after a heavy rain which had left 
the streets in a very muddy condition. They were gayly deco- 
rated with flags, however, and at the station was a large 
procession, composed of the workmen and benevolent societies, 
with banners and appropriate emblems. They escorted the 
General up the hill to the Park, where a salute was fired. As the 
guns belched forth their thunder the sun burst from behind the 
clouds and shone beautifully. An address was then presented to 
the General by the President of the Trades Council, to which he 
replied appropriately. Then followed the ceremony of laying the 
corner-stone, after which there was a luncheon and speeches by 



GENERAL GRANT VISITS SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND. I 79 

members of Parliament. An address was presented by the 
Mayor and Council of Sunderland, welcoming- the General to 
their town, and soon afterwards the repast came to a close. The 
General then visited the docks, and in the evening dined with Mr. 
Long at Thornhill. The next day he was the guest of Mr. Hart- 
ley, of the celebrated firm of Hartley & Co., and visited the 
glassworks of that firm. 

*On Wednesday, the 26th of September, the General and his 
party reached Sheffield, one of the principal manufacturing cities 
of England. It contains about 150,000 inhabitants, and is rather 
a dirty, dingy-looking place. From the station the party drove to 
Cutler's Hall, which, next to the town hall, is the principal public 
building of the town. The General was there received by the 
Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors in their robes of office. Seats 
of honor were placed for him and Mrs. Grant by the chair of the 
Mayor, who cordially welcomed the General to Sheffield. Other 
addresses were made, and the General returned well-chosen re- 
plies to all. Later in the day, a reception was given by Dr. 
Webster, the American Consul, which was generally attended by 
the business men of the city. In the evening General and Mrs. 
Grant were entertained at dinner by the Mayor. 

The next day, the 27th, the General and his party visited a 
number of the manufacturing establishments of Sheffield, com- 
mencing with the famous cutlery works of Rogers & Sons. 
They visited next the Cyclops Iron and Steel Works, where 
they witnessed the operations of making telegraph wires, and 
making iron plates for ships of- war, and also of making Bessemer 
steel. In the evening there was a brilliant banquet at Cutler's 
Hall, at which speeches complimentary to the General were made. 

At seven o'clock the next morning, September 28th, the party 
left Sheffield for Stratford-on-Avon, which place was reached at 
eleven o'clock, the train being a special one. The General and 
his companions were met at the station by the Mayor, and were 
driven to the beautiful New Place Gardens, through which they 
strolled. Then the Church of the Holy Cross and the Grammar 
School were visited. At the latter place they were shown the seat 
occupied by Shakespeare when a school-boy, and where he conned 



i8o 



AROUND THE WORLD. 



his daily task. Then followed a visit to the Shakespeare Memo- 
rial, which is now in process of construction, after which the party 
repaired to the Church of the Holy Trinity, in which Shakespeare 
is buried. They were received by the Vicar, the Rev. F. Smith, 
who conducted them through the church, and showed them the 
deeply interesting memorials of the great poet. The house 
in which he was born was also visited. It is now a Museum, and 
is filled with interesting relics of the immortal bard. An excur- 




TOMB OF SHAKESPEARE IN THE CHURCH 
AT STRATFORD-ON-AVON. 

sion was also made to the cottage of Anne Hathaway, whom 
Shakespeare married when he was but eighteen years of age, and 
which lies about a mile distant from the town. At three o'clock 
the General was entertained at luncheon in the town hall by the 
Mayor and principal citizens of Stratford. An address was pre- 
sented to him in a casket made of the wood of the mulberry tree 
planted by Shakespeare at New Place. 

On the 29th the General and his party left Stratford early in 



GENERAL GRANT VISITS SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND. l8l 

the morning for Leamington, one of the prettiest and most noted 
watering-places of England. The town contains about 16,000 
inhabitants, and is noted for its medicinal springs, which are par- 
ticularly efficacious in diseases of the skin. The town contains 
handsome assembly-rooms, unusually fine bath and pump-rooms, 
a theatre, reading-rooms, a museum and a picture-gallery. 

Upon the arrival of the train, the General and his party found 
the town decorated with flags, and with a triumphal arch bearing 
the inscription, "Welcome to the Royal Borough." The party 
proceeded at once to the Pump-Room, where the General was 
received by a guard of honor of the Leamington Volunteers, 
commanded by Captain A. E. Overall. The Mayor delivered a 
complimentary address of welcome, which was cordially replied 
to by General Grant. The sights of the town were then visited, 
and excursions were made to Kenilworth and Warwick Castles. 

Kenilworth Castle is only five miles distant from Leamington. 
It is now in ruins, but is one of the finest ruins in England. The 
castle was founded by Geoffrey de Clinton, Lord Chamberlain to 
Henry I. Henry III. gave it to the famous Simon de Montfort, 
Earl of Leicester, and after his rebellion and flight to France it 
was held by his followers for six months against the whole of the 
royal army. Edward II. was imprisoned here. In the reign of 
Edward III. it became the possession of his third son, John of 
Gaunt, who left it to his son, Henry Bolingbroke, afterwards 
Henry IV. It remained the property of the Crown until the 
reign of Elizabeth, who presented it to her favorite, Robert 
Dudley, Earl of Leicester. The Earl entertained the Queen 
here in magnificent style in 1566, 1568 and 1575, spending half 
a million dollars in seventeen days' festivities. Scott gives a 
brilliant account of one of these royal visits in his novel of Ken- 
ilworth. The castle was plundered by the troops of Cromwell, 
and after the Restoration was presented to Sir Edward Hyde 
(the father-in-law of James II.) by Charles II., who created him 
Earl of Clarendon and Baron of Kenilworth. It remains in the 
possession of his descendants. 

Warwick, with its magnificent castle, lies on the east bank of 
the Avon, two miles west of Leamington. The origin of the 



1 62 AROUND THE WORLD. 

castle is lost in the mists of antiquity, but when destroyed by fire, 
a few years ago, it was one of the most superb residences, as 
well as one of the most perfect feudal remains, in the world. 
It is now being restored. It is the residence of the Earl of 
Warwick. 

General and Mrs. Grant now brought their journey through 
the midland counties to a close, and hastening to Southampton, 
spent some days with their daughter, Mrs. Sartoris. 

On the ioth of October General Grant went to Birmingham, 
in compliance with a promise made some time before to visit 
that city. He was met by the Mayor and city authorities, and 
was conducted to the Town Hall, where he was presented with 
addresses from the City Corporation, the Workingmen, and the 
Midland International Arbitration Union. The Mayor delivered 
an eloquent speech of welcome, which was responded to by 
General Grant, who also replied in suitable terms to the other 
addresses. After these ceremonies, the General visited the Free 
Library, the Art Gallery, and several other places of interest, 
and then went to the residence of Mr. Chamberlain, Member 
of Parliament for Birmingham, whose guest he was during his 
stay in the city. 

Birmingham is the great seat of the hardware manufacture of 
England, and turns out every description of iron, steel, and other 
metal goods, in vast quantities. It lies midway between London 
and Liverpool, and being exclusively a manufacturing place, its 
appearance is not prepossessing. It contains but few public 
buildings, the principal of which is the Town Hall, a magnificent 
edifice in the Corinthian style. Its inhabitants number 352,000. 

The next day, October nth, General Grant, in company with 
the Mayor, the American Consul, Mr. Chamberlain, and Mr. L. 
P. Morton, of New York, visited the principal factories of Bir- 
mingham, at each of which he was cordially greeted by the work- 
men, and the peculiar mode of manufacture employed there 
explained to him. Among the establishments visited was that 
of Messrs. Elkington & Co., whose beautiful exhibit at the Cen- 
tennial Exhibition, at Philadelphia, attracted so much attention. 
Luncheon was had at the Queen's Hotel, after which the button- 



GENERAL GRANT VISITS SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND. 1 83 

works of Messrs. Green, Cadbury & Richards, and the celebrated 
steel pen works of Messrs. Gillott were visited. In the evening 
there was a public banquet at the Town Hall, at which nearly 
350 persons were present. Speeches were made, and the Gen- 
eral replied at some length to the toast proposing his health. 

On the 20th of October a visit was made to Brighton, where 
he was the guest of Mr. Ashbury, member of Parliament for the 
town. 

Brighton -is the largest and most fashionable watering-place of 
England. It is really a suburb of London, being but an hour 
distant, the nearest point of the South Coast — the Paris of Eng- 
land — where, if the sun shines, sunshine is to be found. Monthly 
tickets are issued by the railway company for business men going 
up to the city daily, and returning in the evening. "All England 
is proud of Brighton," says Mr. Joel Cook, in one of his charm- 
ing letters to the Philadelphia Ledger, " proud of its fine situa- 
tion, great size, grand buildings, decorations, and its glories in 
the season. Taken altogether it is probably the greatest water- 
ing-place in the world, and everything that art and wealth can do 
to add to its attractions is lavished upon this city by the sea. It 
is within about ninety minutes' railway ride of London, on the 
southern coast of England, and the city stretches for over three 
miles along the English Channel upon a comparatively low shore, 
though in some places the cliff rises thirty or forty feet above the 
beach. Almost the entire front is protected by a sea-wall of 
greater or less height, which supports a broad terrace, or rather 
a succession of terraces on the same level. In front of these 
the sea rolls up over a rather steep pebbly beach whereon are ' 
bathing machines and fishing and pleasure boats and a few 
pedestrians, but the walking is rough and unsteady. The bath- 
ing is not very good, and in fact is only one of the smaller 
attractions of Brighton, being but partially indulged in by the 
visitors. It has none of the comforts or pleasures of our New 
Jersey coast watering-places in this respect, for no one can take 
a dip in the sea to his entire satisfaction when his feet are tor- 
tured by such rough and unsteady pebbles as compose this beach. 
But Brio-hton has alone the beach and behind the sea-walls what 



184 AROUND THE WORLD. 

no other watering-place in the world possesses — a grand drive, 
at least sixty feet wide, extending over three miles along the 
coast, with a broad promenade frequently ornamented with lawns, 
o-ardens, and flower-beds in front, and on the land side a succes- 
sion of palaces and great buildings of most imposing construc- 
tion, which look as if the Boulevards of Paris had been brought 
here, and their buildings of ornate cream-colored stone ranged 
along the sea. The city extends far back on the hillsides and 
along the valleys into the land, and has a population of one hun- 
dred thousand, which is frequently doubled during the season. 
And the greater part of this population crowd out upon the 
broad terraces in front known as the Marine Parade, where they 
ride or promenade, to see and be seen, and give the city a life 
and attractiveness that are all its own. When London empties 
Brighton fills up, and here come the equipages that have made 
Rotten Row famous. No ocean-border scene ever equalled in 
my eyes what the Brighton Parade last night presented, and yet 
the season is only beginning, and will not be at its height for 
some weeks yet. Before dark the crowds moved along between 
the succession of palaces and great hotels and fine houses, with 
beautifully ornamented public squares on the land side, and the 
beach, with its terraced edge and gardens and flower-beds on the 
other. As the night came on and the lights were lit, the scene 
gradually assumed the form of an illumination, whilst far out 
over the water were the hundreds of colored lights on piers and 
vessels, making it look like a Parisian festival. In fact, Brighton 
seems as if a portion of Paris had been brought to England, for 
it is not dingy and dark like most English towns, but light and 
attractive, and when the sun shines more of it seems to come 
here than to most English cities. It is in the season the gayest 
of all places in the kingdom, and manages to concentrate a very 
large portion of the wealth, fashion, and aristocracy of the realm. 
Its hotels are of large size, and one of them towers nine stories 
high, and covers a large square. There are rows of similarly 
constructed buildings, fronting the sea, hundreds of feet long. 
In one case a splendid structure surrounds a square, and fronts 
the sea, extending probably fifteen hundred feet in frontage. 



GENERAL GRANT VISITS SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND. 1 85 

Scores of new buildings of the largest size are going up, showing 
that the building trades have plenty to do. Millions upon mil- 
lions of money have been laid out upon the decoration, construc- 
tion, and ornamentation of the Marine Parade, over which will 
probably promenade during the next three months a large pro- 
portion of the ' fast ' life of England. 

" The affairs of England, like those of the Romans, I am told, 
afe regulated by the flight of birds. In other lands the summer 
drives fashionable life out of the cities to the watering-places, 
whilst the winter brings it back again. But not so with England. 
The summer is spent in London, and the winter in the country. 
Fashion decrees that when the grouse begin to fly in August the 
London season must terminate, and it must not begin until winter 
has bade good-by to the last pheasant. Hence Parliament opens 
in February and ends in August, and this marks the duration of 
the London season. The thermometer does not regulate it as 
with us. The hot weather is spent in town and the cold weather 
out of it. Therefore, in August and September, when Ameri- 
cans are getting back to the cities, the English are leaving them, 
and when we are coddling - around our hottest fires in town, about 
Christmas-time, the true Englishman will still be in the country 
and endeavoring to enjoy himself. ' It is awfully absurd,' said a 
distinguished Londoner to me last week, 'but the flight of the 
birds decrees it.' Over two hundred thousand people shut up 
their houses and left London during the week that followed the 
close of the session, August 17th. Belgravia looked as if it had 
suffered a terrible collapse. Thus Brighton is growing at the 
expense of its great neighbor, and all that money and art can 
accomplish are lavished upon it to attract the visitor. 

" Two piers extend out from the Parade, each for a thousand 
feet over the sea, and are used for promenades. At their ends 
they widen to broad platforms, sixty feet square, where bands 
play, and where at night there are, as all along the piers and 
Parade, beautiful illuminations. The older one is the famous 
Chain Pier, built as a suspension bridge and supported on piles. 
The new pier, ten years old, is grander than the other, and is a 
most spacious and ornamental structure of iron. Both are strong, 



1 86 AROUND THE WORLD. 

and to either, to enjoy music and all, the admission charge is but 
twopence. George IV., when Prince of Wales, built at Brighton 
a royal pavilion, in imitation of the Kremlin at Moscow, or as 
others hold, of an East Indian pagoda, and embosomed in trees 
and surrounded by gardens, its curiously knobbed, turreted, and 
peaked roofs present a remarkable appearance. But it is sur- 
plusage in a city of such beautiful structures to describe any. 
The methods of transportation are varied from those in use else- 
where, by both coaches and goat-wagons. In the former, round- 
shouldered men laboriously drag ancient dowagers, whilst in the 
latter the children gladly ride, being furnished double as well as 
single teams. In fact, goat-power, as a means of juvenile trans- 
portation, is as conspicuous at Brighton as donkey-power was at 
Scarborough ; and a Brighton goat-team, with youthful coachman 
and footmen, can be engaged for a juvenile ride for threepence. 
The coachman and footmen walk, however, so that the goats are 
not overladen. Brighton has regularly established fire-engine 
stations, which are not very numerous in English cities, and in 
large letters on the outside is the announcement that for every 
alarm of fire two shillings and sixpence will be paid. But with 
the caution that is proverbial among Englishmen, this is supple- 
mented by the further announcement that 'no reward is paid for 
a false alarm.' 

"Perhaps the feature of Brighton which has most world-wide 
fame is the Aquarium, and yet the stranger without a guide has 
difficulty in finding it. This comes from its peculiar location. I 
was consigned to a hotel ' opposite the Aquarium.' I looked out 
to find it, and saw across the grand esplanade in front, the open 
sea, and no Aquarium. Then, walking over towards the sea- 
wall, it suddenly opened, sunken below the level of the roadway, 
covered in and hidden by the sea-walls on both sides, yet stretch- 
ing almost eight hundred feet on either hand, and a hundred feet 
in breadth, and surmounted by gardens and footwalks. The 
Aquarium, to facilitate the movement of the sea-water, is set at 
as low a level as is consistent with safety, and its top presents a 
strange appearance, with its variegated roof of foot-paths, flowers, 
trap-doors, and skylights. This Aquarium is worthy all the fame 



GENERAL GRANT VISITS SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND. 1 87 

it has, for it far exceeds the feebler attempts at imitation else- 
where, and in its interior decorations is superb. The design is 
to represent the fishes, as far as possible, in their native haunts 
and habits, and, as the presence of visitors might interfere with 
this if known, the visitors go through darkened passages, and 
are thus concealed from the fish. This makes their actions much 
more natural, and, in fact, they seem to move about with perfect 
freedom. Some of the tanks are of great size, one of them 
wherein the porpoise disports being one hundred feet long. 
Schools of herring and mackerel swim through the waters as 
they do on the Grand Bank. The octopus gyrates his fearful- 
looking arms, and gives an idea of what he may be when he be- 
comes a full-grown devil-fish, for these specimens are only about 
a foot long. The codfish circulates, and the whiting, bass, and 
pretty much every fish we know of, either in England or America, 
is exhibited as in its native haunts. 

" Here are those extraordinary little fellows, the sea-horses 
of the Mediterranean, which are horses' heads driven forward 
through the water by little propeller-like fins in the tail and 
clinging curiously to the coral spurs. The Aquarium is full of 
all sorts of aquatic curiosities, having American alligators, of 
whom an entire family — gentleman, lady, and two children — bask 
in the mud; seals and sea-lions, which, like those at Fairmount 
Park, are blessed with good appetites, and a particular favorite 
is the lively little ' Prince,' the baby sea-lion, born last year, who 
has an especial tank devoted to his own use, because he has got 
so big that, as they told me, he occasionally ' whips his daddy.' 
The preparation of the tanks for the fish has been conducted on 
the most perfect and expensive scale. The seals and sea-lions 
have extensive ranges of rocks to climb upon. The alligators 
can bask in savannas and crawl through expanded grottos. The 
porpoises and larger fish are given a range of a hundred feet. 
The visitor walks through groined and vaulted passages, artisti- 
cally decorated with colored marbles and polished granite, and 
the entire structure is prepared in the costliest manner, whilst 
music during the day and concerts in the evening add to the 
attractions. This is the land of cheap amusements. A shilling 



1 88 AROUND THE WORLD. 

is all that is charged for admission to the Aquarium, whilst in 
London the South Kensington Museum, which when entirely 
completed will cover fifty-six acres, is open half the week free 
and the other half for sixpence. And all the other public insti- 
tutions of the kind in England are on a similar basis. The 
Brighton Aquarium is also made use of to show the process of 
hatching trout and salmon, and for experiments which have 
greatly increased the world's stock of knowledge as to the 
habits of fish. Its tanks hold an aggregate of five hundred 
thousand gallons of sea and fresh water, and its many thou- 
sands of specimens embrace almost the entire range of the 
fish kingdom." 

On the 2 2d of October a banquet was given by the Mayor 
and corporation of Brighton, and was attended by the principal 
citizens of the place. The Mayor proposed the health of General 
Grant, and alluded to the General's great military and civil 
services to his country. To this speech General Grant made 
the following reply : 

" Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen : I have to rise here in answer 
to a toast that has made it embarrassing to me, by the very com- 
plimentary terms in which it has been proposed. But I can say 
to you all, gentlemen, that since my arrival in England, I have 
had the most agreeable receptions everywhere ; and I enjoy 
yours exceedingly. In a word, I will say that Brighton has 
advantages which very few places have, in consequence of its 
proximity to the greatest city in the world. There you can go 
and transact your business, and return in the evening. If I were 
an Englishman, I think I should select Brighton as a place where 
I should live, and I am very sure you could not meet a jollier 
and better people anywhere. But I would say one word in re- 
gard to a toast which preceded, and that is in regard to your 
Forces. I must say one word for the Volunteers, or Reserve 
Forces, as I believe you call them. They are what the English- 
speaking people are to rely on in the future. I believe that 
wherever there is a great war between one civilized nation and 
another, it will be these Forces in which they will have to place 
their confidence. We English-speaking people keep up the 



GENERAL GRANT VISITS SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND. 1 89 

public schools in order to maintain and advance the intelligence 
of our country, and, in time, fit our people for volunteer service, 
and for higher training ; and you will always find the men among 
them who are equal to any occasion. I have forgotten a good 
deal our Mayor has said that I would like to respond to, but I 
can say, that since I landed in Liverpool, my reception has been 
most gratifying to me. I regard that reception as an evidence 
of the kindest of feeling toward my country, and I can assure 
you, if we go on as good friends and good neighbors, that the 
English-speaking people are going to be the greatest people in 
the world. Our language is spreading with greater rapidity than 
the language of any other nation ever did, and we are becoming 
the commercial people of the world." 

On the 23d General Grant returned to London, intending to 
proceed direct to the Continent. 



CHAPTER V. 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 

Departure from London — The Channel Passage — Trip to Paris — Arrival in that City — Early 
History of Paris — Situation of the City — Municipal Government — Some Statistics — The 
Boulevards — The Streets — Paris by Gaslight — A Brilliant Sight — Place de la Concorde — 
The Arch of Triumph — Place du Carrousel — Portes St. Denis and St. Martin — The Champs 
Elysees — The Bois de Boulogne — The Seine — Along the River — The Bridges — The Steam- 
boat-Omnibus — The Tuileries — The Hotel de Ville — The Island — Old Paris — The Palace 
of Justice — The Conciergerie — The Holy Chapel — Notre Dame — The Exterior — The In- 
terior — The Louvre — Description of the Palace — The Picture Galleries — The Museums — 
The Luxembourg Palace — The Palais Royal — The Shops — The Gardens — The Bourse — 
The Hotel des Invalides — Tomb of Napoleon I. — General Grant visits Marshal MacMahon 
— The Elysee — Reception by Minister Noyes — Grant at the Opera — Meets Gambetta — Dines 
with the French President — Dinner at the Grand Hotel — Mrs. Mackey's Party — Grant meets 
the Count of Paris — The Herald Office — Versailles — The Old Palace — Memories of the 
Past — General Grant and Party leave Paris — At Lyons — Grant visits Marseilles — At Nice — 
Arrival of the " Vandalia " at Villefranche — General Grant and his Party embark for the 
Mediterranean Voyage. 




T had been the intention of General Grant to pay an early 
visit to Paris, but he had deferred it at the advice of his 
friends until after the close of the political campaign, 
which was a bitter struggle between President MacMahon and 
the Jules Simon Cabinet. His friends feared that a visit made 
during this struggle would appear to have somewhat of a politi- 
cal character, or, in other words, as a demonstration in favor of 
the Republic, and they were desirous that nothing should occur 
to prevent it being pleasant to the General, as well as to all par- 
ties of the French people. It was only after the overwhelming 
Republican victory in the autumn of 1877 that it was deemed 
best to make the long contemplated visit. 

On the morning of the 24th of October, 1877, General Grant, 

accompanied by his wife and Jesse, and Mr. John Russell Young, 

left Charing Cross in a special train for Folkestone, from which 

point the passage of the Channel was to be begun. A crowd of 

(190) 




Til 



':> :; 




I92 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Americans assembled at the station to bid him farewell, and the 
train departed amid their hearty cheers. At Folkestone the 
General was welcomed by the Mayor and a number of promi- 
nent citizens. There being nothing to delay them the party em- 
barked on the steamer, and were soon tossing upon the blue 
waves of the English Channel. 

The little town of Folkestone lies twelve miles southwest of 
Dover, and is reached in about two hours from London by rail. 
The trains leave London Bridge and Charing Cross Stations both 
morning and evening, and should the traveller feel inclined to 
break the journey at Folkestone, he will find several excellent 
hotels there for his accommodation. The Channel passage by 
this route is made in about two hours, the distance being only 
twenty-seven miles. The boats are the largest and best plying 
between France and England, and afford many comforts which 
are unknown on the others ; though to one accustomed to Amer- 
ican steamers, they are wretched enough. From Boulogne it is 
a five hours' ride to Paris, so that the whole journey between the 
two capitals can be made in ten or twelve hours. 

The voyage was calm and pleasant, and none of the travellers 
suffered from sea-sickness. Boulogne was reached in due time, 
and after a halt of a few hours there the journey was resumed 
towards Paris. 

Just before Paris was reached the train was stopped, and Gen- 
eral Noyes, the American Minister to France, General Torbert, 
the American Consul-General at Paris, and an aid-de-camp of 
Marshal MacMahon entered the car. The aid-de-camp, in the 
name of the President of the French Republic, welcomed Gen- 
eral Grant to France. At the depot the General found a large 
crowd of Americans assembled to welcome him. It was raining 
heavily, and the day was gloomy, but the greetings were cordial. 
After they had been exchanged, the General and his party entered 
their carriages and drove to the Hotel Bristol, in the Rue de la 
Paix. 

General Grant remained in Paris from the 24th of October 
until near the middle of December. " On the whole," says Mr. 
You ng, who accompanied him, " his stay in Paris was a pleasant one. 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 1 93 

It is not worth while to detail such minor incidents of a disagreeable 
character which arose because French political feeling would not re- 
gard General Grant's visit to France in the exact light he intended 
it to be, a purely unofficial one. Because Mr. Washburne, our 
Minister to France during the Franco-Prussian War, had at the 
same time the rights of the German residents in Paris intrusted 
to his care, and because he had acted with justice and humanity, 
il; suited monarchists, imperialists, and some few of the republican 
party, to think that General Grant during his Presidency, in ac- 
cepting the acts of his foreign minister, had rather inclined towards 
the Prussians than to France. Victor Hugo did much to inten- 
sify this feeling. Poetic license sometimes becomes quite indif- 
ferent as to facts. It is a matter of regret that this feeling should 
have existed, but as it belongs to the history of General Grant's 
visit to France, I am forced to write it. Although this feeling 
existed, the French were too polite a people to show the least 
discourtesy to a guest. It must be mentioned that the Bonapar- 
tists and their reactionary papers went out of their way to excite 
anti-German feelings against the General. It was alleged by 
them that the General's visit was a demonstration in favor of 
Republicanism. As a matter of fact the feelings of General 
Grant towards France were of the friendliest character. It is 
true, however, that one of his few aversions was directed towards 
the Bonapartist family. He looked upon the war between France 
and Germany as a causeless war, made by an ambitious and sel- 
fish despot to save his dynasty. In regard to Napoleonism, 
though General Grant had never written a poem on the same 
subject, he entirely agreed with Victor Hugo." 

It would not be possible to give here a detailed description of 
all the places in Paris visited by General Grant, so we must con- 
tent ourselves with describing a few of the most prominent, and 
with a general view of the beautiful city. First let us glance at 
the history of this most interesting of European capitals. 

When Julius Caesar had conquered Gaul, his attention was 

called to a small island lying in the Seine, a little over a hundred 

miles from its mouth; and one fine morning, nineteen hundred 

years ago, he sent his trusted lieutenant, Labienus, to conquer the 

13 



194 AROUND THE WORLD. 

city of mud huts which covered the island, and which constituted 
the chief town of one of the Gallic tribes. By whom this town 
was built is not well known, but tradition assigns its establish- 
ment to the Phoenicians, who designed it for a trading-post. The 
Romans subdued it only after a fierce struggle, and from that 
period the place became a prominent point in the world's history. 
The conquerors gave it the name of Lutetia, and called its in- 
habitants Parisii; but they found it hard to draw the wild and 
brave savages into a complete submission to their laws and cus- 
toms, so early did Paris exhibit that dogged resistance to 
constituted authority which has always been among its chief 
characteristics. 

Under the Romans, who appreciated the military and commer- 
cial importance of Lutetia, which occupied the present Isle de la 
Cite, it became a well-built town. As it grew in importance and 
population it was made a city by the Emperor Julian, and took 
the name of Paris. Julian also granted it extensive privileges. 
A palace was built on the south side of the Seine, on the site of 
the present Hotel de Cluny, and a fleet of Roman galleys was 
stationed in the river, with their head-quarters here. It was the 
favorite residence of Julian, who, from a. d. 355 to 361, occupied 
the old Palace of Thermes, the ruins of which may be seen in the 
gardens of the Hotel de Cluny. Constantius Chlorus lived here, 
and also several other Emperors. As the great Empire grew 
weaker and more corrupt, Paris became more and more alienated 
from it, and consequently received less of its protection. In 465, 
Childeric, less merciful than Attila had been, stormed and took it; 
and in 506 Clovis established himself in the Palace of Thermes. 
He embraced Christianity, which St. Denis had preached here 
nearly a century before, and broke the last bonds which tied the 
Franks to Rome. But none of his Merovingian or Carlovingian 
successors resided in Paris, and the city began to fall into decay. 
The hardy and piratical Normans found it an easy prey, and 
several times assailed it, sacked it, and retired down the Seine to 
their own country loaded with rich spoils. Their victories were 
not always easy, however, for in 885 the city resisted them in a 
siege of eight months' duration. Otto, Count of Paris, came to» 



GENERAL GRANT'S VISIT TO PARIS. 



195 



the aid of the city in the same year, and was made king by the 
grateful Franks ; and in 987, his descendant, Hugues Capet, took 
up his residence at the Palais de la Cite, which occupied the site 
of the present Palais de Justice, and established the French 
Monarchy which ended with Louis XVI. 

Paris is beautifully situated. It lies on both banks of the Seine 
and on two islands in that river, 1 1 1 miles from its mouth. In 
1*860 the city limits were extended to the fortifications, taking in 





BRIDGE OF THE ARTS, SHOWING THE LOUVRE AND THE TUILERIES. 

all the faubourgs and quarters lying without the old Octroi wall. 
These fortifications are a little more than twenty-two miles in cir- 
cuit, and are pierced with sixty-six gates or entrances, called 
barrieres. The city limits thus enclosed cover an area of 19,260 
square acres, or 30 square miles. The population in 1872 was 
1,851,792 inhabitants. It is now about 2,000,000. 

The General Government of the city is administered by the 
Prefect of the Department of the Seine, assisted by a Municipal 



I96 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Council of sixty members, and by the Prefect of Police. These 
officials are appointed by the National Government. For admin- 
istrative purposes the city is divided into twenty arrondissements 
or wards. Each arrondissement has a Mayor, two deputy 
Mayors, and a Juge de Paix, or Justice of the Peace, subordinate 
to the Prefect of the Seine; and is subdivided into quarters, 
each of which is provided with a Commissary of Police, who is 
subject to the Prefect of Police. The Prefect of Police has the 
sole charge of all measures for preserving the health, cleanliness, 
and order of the city. 

The aggregate length of the paved and macadamized streets is 
300 miles, of which more than 240 miles are provided with 
asphaltum or stone-paved sidewalks ; and more than 200 miles 
are bordered with trees, gardens, or planted squares. The 
streets are lighted with 15,160 gas-lamps. The aggregate 
length of the sewers is 250 miles. There are between 4,500 
and 5,000 policemen on duty in the city, and 2,900 Municipal 
Guards. A military corps, consisting of 1,300 officers and men, 
perform the duties of firemen. There are eight prisons in the 
city, which are managed in a humane manner. Besides seventy 
places of worship connected with public establishments, religious 
communities, etc., there are seventy-two parish churches ; and 
eighteen places of worship for persons not Roman Catholics. 
There are nineteen religious communities of men, and fifty-three of 
women. There are twenty-two civil, general, and special hospitals, 
nineteen public hospices, twenty-seven asylums and almshouses, 
and three military hospitals. The medical service in these is per- 
formed by the most eminent surgeons and physicians in France ; 
the nursing in part by the sisters of the different religious orders. 
The City of Paris supports in these establishments nearly 18,000 
free beds, at an annual expense of $2,000,000. Besides this, it 
furnishes medical attendance to more than 125,000 poor. 

There are thirty large public libraries in Paris, of which eight 
are open to every one. The National Library is the largest in 
the world. It contains more than 1,000,000 printed volumes, 
300,000 pamphlets, 150,000 manuscripts, 300,000 maps, charts, 
and topographical views, 1,300,000 engravings, and a cabinet of 
medals and coins numbering 150,000 specimens. 



GENERAL GRANT'S VISIT TO PARIS. 1 97 

There are twenty-eight theatres in the city. Of these five are 
devoted to musical performances. The Grand Opera, which is 
famous for its ballet and gorgeous scenic effects, is the principal. 
On a rainy Sunday night the theatres of Paris seat about 30,000 
spectators. In addition to the theatres there are about 1 50 
other enclosed places of amusement, such as circuses, concerts, 
cafe-concerts, concert-gardens, etc., which have an average nightly 
attendance of 24,000 persons. 

The Parisians consume annually 32,250,000 gallons of wine; 
1,780,000 gallons of alcoholic liquids: 7,049,856 gallons of cider, 
perry, and beer; 205,513,877 pounds of butcher's meat; and 
17,451,084 pounds of other solid animal food. 

The revenues of the city are drawn principally from the ocfroi 
or tax levied upon all articles of consumption brought into the 
city. This impost yields about 100,000,000 of francs annually. 
The sum of 300,000 francs is raised annually by a poll-tax of ten 
francs upon 30,000 Parisian dogs. 

The climate is pleasant as a general rule. The mean tem- 
perature is about 51 Fahrenheit, limited by the summer and 
winter extremes of 96 above and i° below zero. Falls of snow 
are rare and slight. The average number of rainy days is 105 
per annum, and the average annual fall of rain is twenty-two 
inches. 

The streets of Paris number 3,619, and some of these are 
deeply interesting. The most noteworthy of the Paris thorough- 
fares are the boulevards. The most famous and oldest of these 
are the Boulevards Interieurs, on the site of the old walls de- 
stroyed about 1670, and extending from the Madeleine to the 
Place de la Bastille. When the peace of Aix la Chapelle, in 
1668, convinced Louis XV. that his capital was safe for some 
time to come, the great king pulled down the fortifications of the 
city, and laid ofT the space they had occupied in a series of mag- 
nificent streets, which were called Boulevarts, or bulwarks ; the 
name indicating the use to which the ground had been put. The 
true, or Interior, Boulevards were begun in 1670, when the old 
walls of the city were destroyed. They extend from the Made- 
leine to the Bastille, and are the most popular and crowded 



I98 AROUND THE WORLD. 

streets in the city. When first laid out, they were thickly planted 
with shade-trees. These trees remained undisturbed until the 
Revolution of 1830, when they were cut down to form barricades. 
Others were planted after the restoration of order, but they shared 
the fate of their predecessors, in 1848, and the present Govern- 
ment, profiting by this double lesson, has refrained from planting 
any more. 

At all hours of the day these streets are thronged with vehicles 
and pedestrians, and, especially at night, present a brilliant spec- 
tacle. They are flooded with gaslight both from the street lamps, 
and from the windows of the shops, cafes and theatres, and the 
sidewalks are filled and olten blockaded with thousands of pleas- 
ure-seekers of both sexes and of all ages and conditions. 

The names of the old streets of Paris date in many cases from 
the reign of Philip Augustus, who was the first sovereign to es- 
tablish a commission of public roads {grande voirie), and to 
classify and determine the n^mes of the thoroughfares. These 
names had various origins. Some streets were named from 
churches and chapels located on them, some from convents and 
religious orders, some from saints, bishops, and monks, some 
from the hotels or palaces of the nobles situated upon them, 
some took the names of the nobles themselves, some were called 
after prominent and popular citizens, and some took their names 
from the principal avocations carried on within them, each trade 
or profession usually confining itself to a distinct locality. His- 
torical events have also had their share in assiominof these names. 
In the Rue Pierre Levee (street 01 the raised stone), the ancient 
Druids once set up their sacrificial altar. It was through the 
Rue des Martyrs that Saint Denis, Saint Rustique, and Saint 
Eleuthere were led to the heights of Montmartre, where they 
sealed their faith with their lives. The Rue des Frondeurs was 
the spot where the first barricades of the Fronde were thrown up, 
in 1 648. The Rue des Francs- Bourgeois was exempt from taxation. 
The Rue d Fnfer (street of hell), at first called the Via Inferior, 
to distinguish it from its neighbor, the Rue St. facaues, owes its 
present name to a corruption of Via Inferior, which occurred in 
the time of St. Louis, and to the fact that at the same time the 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 1 99 

old Chateau de Vauvert, which stood in this street, was believed 
to be haunted by the devil. 

The Rue de Rivoli, named by Napoleon I., in honor of his 
victory over the Austrians, in 1797, is, perhaps, the most magni- 
ficent street in the world. It extends from the Place de la Con- 
corde to the Rue-Culture Sainte- Catharine, and is continued from 
this point to the Bastille by the Rue St. Antoine. It was begun 
by Napoleon I., in 1802, and completed by Napoleon III., in 
1865. The street is two miles long, and is one of the widest in 
the city. On the south side are the Tuileries and the Louvre 
and their gardens, the former palace being now in ruins, the 
Place du Louvre, the gardens and tower of St. Jacques de la 
Boucherie, and the Hotel de Ville. On the north side are some 
of the finest hotels in Paris, and some noted buildings. The 
houses on this street are uniform in architecture, and give to its 
splendors rather a monotonous appearance. The street floors 
are occupied by shops, which open upon a magnificent row of 
arcades which cover the sidewalks. Between each arch a lamp 
is suspended, and these, when lighted, form an unbroken line of 
flame two miles in length. 

The streets of the city present a brilliant and gay appearance 
at night. If it be summer, the sidewalks of the Boulevards are 
lined with chairs and little tables around which, during the whole 
evening, thousands sit and sip their refreshments. The lights 
flare out upon the dark streets from the brilliant saloons in the 
winter. Through the half-curtained windows and doors you may 
see the merry pleasure-seekers within, and listen to their laughter, 
which, comes to you mindled with the rattle of glasses and 
dominos. Pausing for a moment to glance at the brilliant 
scene is a poor wretch whose whole appearance is expressive of 
misery. He has not tasted food for a whole day, and these 
people are squandering that which would be life to him. He 
utters a half-suppressed groan, and you turn quickly, but merely 
to catch a glimpse of his dark, pinched face, as the Sergent de 
Ville drives him onward. And so onward, all the long, weary 
night must he go, with the heavens dark and heavy above him 
and the earth cold and hard at his feet. 



200 AROUND THE WORLD. 

The omnibuses rattle by with a furious crashing, and the lights 
of the cabs fairly dance, like so many fire-flies between the lines 
of green trees, the crowd on the wide sidewalks grows thicker 
every moment, and overflows into the street. The hum, the 
buzz of thousands of voices floats merrily on the air, and at 
short intervals the music of a score of bells rises above all, 
proclaiming the flight of time to these careless creatures. 

By eleven o'clock the theatres begin to discharge their thou- 
sands of spectators, who come to swell the crowd on the Boule- 
vards, and from now until long after midnight the gayety will be 
at its height. Then the cafes will close, the streets will become 
almost deserted. A few of the cafes remain open all night, and in 
them you will find one or two women waiting in the often vain hope 
of finding some visitor generous enough to give them a supper. 

The Boulevards, however, do not attract all the Parisians. Let 
us go to the Champs Elysees. The great avenue is thronged 
with the many-colored lights of the cabs and omnibuses. How 
they dart to and fro across the Place de la Concorde, and over 
the bridge ! The lamps twinkle brightly in the Tuileries garden 
and amongst the green trees of the Champs Elysees. Every 
seat, every chair is filled, and the walks are full of promenaders. 
Here and there, on every hand, are the shooting stands, hobby- 
horse galleries, toy and refreshment stands, and all the pretty 
sights for which the place is famous. Those bright lights in the 
direction of the Avenue Gabriel mark the entrance to the circus, 
and you can hear on every hand the music from the cafes- 
chantants, which nestle amongst the trees on each side of the 
great avenue. Yonder is the Avenue Montaigne, and the glare 
of light which streams out of it is from the Jardin Mabille. 
Here, under these pretty trees, the throng is almost as great as 
on the Boulevards, but the crowd is quieter. The glare of the 
lights in the groves blinds you, the palaces in the distance rise 
white and bewildering, and until you have thoroughly familiar- 
ized yourself with the place, you are forced to call in the aid of 
a cab to enable you to find your hotel. 

The river is alive with lights. There are lone lines of illumi- 
nated windows on each side, lamps on the bridges, at the water's 



GENERAL GRANT S VISIT TO PARIS. 



20I 



edge, and on the boats that dart rapidly to and fro through the 
silent and dark waters. 

The blaze of the gaslight in the better parts of this great city 
is something wonderful. The American plan of a few sickly 
burners, separated by wide intervals of space, is discarded, and 
the lip-hts are numerous and close together, and there are often 
as many as six or eight burners enclosed in a single lamp. In 




ill 






RUE DE RIVOLI, AND THE TOWER OF ST. JACQUES— PARIS. 

the Rue de Rivoli a lamp is hung between every arch, and the 
street is flooded with a perfect blaze of light. You cannot find 
a dark corner in any part of new Paris. And to see these streets 
on the nights of the great fetes, when every house is illuminated, 
when long rows of gas jets throw out in bold relief the beautiful 
facades of the stately edifices, and climb to the summits of towers 
and monuments, when crowns and crosses of fire deck the heads 
of statues and gleam down from the lofty heights, when millions 
of lamps, twined in wreaths and festoons, and of every shape 
and color, sparkle amidst the thick green of the Tuileries garden 



202 AROUND THE WORLD. 

and the Champs Elysees, and pain the eye with their brilliancy, 
when thousands of rockets and shells are bursting over head in 
designs and mottoes of fire — to see all this in one brief night is 
enough to turn the coolest head, and set it to dreaming dreams 
of the Arabian Nights. 

Paris possesses a number of handsome open places and squares, 
some of which are full of historical interest. I shall mention only 
the most prominent. 

The Place de la Concorde occupies the immense space lying 
between the Champs Elysees on the west, and the Gardens of 
the Tuileries on the east, and the Seine on the south, and a row 
of private hotels and Ministere de la Marine on the north. It is 
the largest and most magnificent of all the public places of Paris, 
and is about one thousand feet long by eight hundred feet wide. 
The Pont de la Concorde connects it with the Palace of the 
Legislative Body, on the south side of the Seine ; and on the 
north, the Rue Royale, a magnificent street, stretches away to 
the Madeleine. Four fine avenues radiate from the centre of 
the square. Eight colossal statues of French cities — Lille, Stras- 
bourg, Bordeaux, Nantes, Marseilles, Brest, Rouen, and Lyons — 
are ranged around the square ; and two splendid fountains are 
placed on each side (north and south) of the obelisk. 

In the centre of the Place stands the famous obelisk of Luxor. 
This magnificent monolith of red Egyptian granite (syenite) was 
one of two, of like size and shape, which stood at the entrance 
of the great Temple of Thebes (now Luxor), where it was 
erected by Remeses the Great, commonly called Sesostris, b. c. 
1350; as is commemorated in the three rows of deep, sharply- 
cut, and well-preserved hieroglyphic cartouches on its sides. 
Mahomed AH, Pasha of Egypt, presented it to the French Gov- 
ernment. It was removed to Paris in 1833, and in 1836 was set 
upon its present site. The height of this obelisk is seventy- four 
feet four inches ; its width seven feet six inches at the base, 
which rests on a block of granite from Brittany, thirteen feet two 
inches higher and five feet five inches square ; it weighs 500,000 
pounds, and the cost of transport and elevation amounted to 
2,000,000 francs. Near the top, which is unfinished, cracks are 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 2C>3 

to be seen, and it is said that they are extending under the damp 
and variable climate of Paris. 

A melancholy interest centres around the Place de la Con- 
corde, as it was here that the guillotine stood during a great part of 
the Reien of Terror. Here Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette were 
beheaded, as were also Charlotte Corday, Madame Roland, the 
Duke of Orleans, and Madame Elizabeth, the sister of Louis XVI. 

The Place de la Bastille marks the site of the old feudal 
fortress of the Bastille, which was destroyed at the commence- 
ment of the great Revolution in 1789. A handsome bronze 
column, surmounted by a winged figure of Victory, in bronze 
gilt, stands in the centre of the square, and marks the resting- 
place of those who fell in the Revolution of July, 1830. It is 
called the " Column of July." It is 152 feet high. 

The Place Vendome is a handsome square, connected with the 
Boulevards by the Rue de la Paix. In the centre stands a col- 
umn of bronze, made of the cannon captured by Napoleon during 
the campaign of 1805. Its sides are ornamented with a series of 
bas-reliefs, representing the battles and victories of the French 
during that campaign. It is in imitation of the Columns of Tra- 
jan and Marcus Aurelius at Rome. It is 143 feet in height, and 
is surmounted by a statue of Napoleon I., twelve feet high. The 
Hotel Bristol, at. which General Grant stayed during his sojourn 
in Paris, is in this square. 

The Place de l'Arc de l'Etoile occupies the high ground at the 
western extremity of the Champs Elysees. It is circular in shape, 
and is formed by the intersection of twelve fine avenues. It is 
bordered with magnificent mansions, uniform in style, and consti- 
tutes one of the handsomest sections of Paris. In the centre 
stands the magnificent Arc de Triomphe, the largest triumphal 
arch in the world. It is 161 feet high, 145 feet wide, and 1 10 feet 
deep. In the centre is an immense arch, ninety-seven feet high, 
and forty-five feet wide, surmounted by a massive entablature, 
and pierced by two smaller side arches. Each face is orna- 
mented with two reliefs. On the side facing the Tuileries, the 
relief to the right of the arch, represents the departure of the 
French army of 1792, while that on the left represents the 



204 AROUND THE WORLD. 

triumph of 1810. On the other face are reliefs representing Re- 
sistance and Peace. The other sculptures represent various 
victories of the French army, and the walls are inscribed with a 
long list of French triumphs, and with the names of several hun- 
dred of the most distinguished generals of France. Near the top 
iof the structure is a row of shields inscribed with the names of 
the principal victories of Napoleon I. The Arch is one of the 
handsomest public works of Paris, and one of the most conspicu- 
ous objects in any view of the city. It was begun by Napoleon 
in 1806, and was completed by Louis Philippe. It cost upwards 
of 10,000,000 francs. From the top magnificent views of the city 
and surrounding country are obtained. 

The Place du Carrousel is the name given to the open space 
between the palaces of the Tuileries and the Louvre, now en- 
closed on all sides by those palaces and the buildings connecting 
them. The view from any part of this enclosure presents one of 
the grandest architectural displays of which the world can boast. 
On the north and south are the magnificent buildings forming the 
connection between the two palaces. On the west are the ruins 
of the Palace of the Tuileries, and on the east is the restored fa- 
cade of the Louvre. This portion of the Louvre is flanked by two 
ranges of elegant buildings, running almost parallel with the great 
galleries, and designed to conceal the want of parallelism between 
the Tuileries and the Louvre. Near the western end of this 
great square is the splendid Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. It 
was begun by Napoleon I. in 1806, and is forty-eight feet high, 
and sixty-five feet wide. The four faces are ornamented with 
marble bas-reliefs, representing the principal battles of the first 
Empire; and each front has a row of four marble columns reach- 
ing from the ground to the top of the arch, each column being 
surmounted with a statue of a soldier of the Empire in the uni- 
form of his corps. On the cop of the whole structure, Napoleon 
placed the four bronze horses he had carried away from the Ba- 
silica of St. Mark, at Venice. These were restored to the Vene- 
tians in 18 1 4, and their place is now supplied by a female figure, 
designed to represent the Restoration, standing in a chariot 
drawn by four horses. 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 205 

Among the most conspicuous objects in the city are the Portes 
St. Denis and St. Martin. The Porte St. Denis stands on the 
Boulevard of the same name, and marks the site of the old St. 
Denis gate in the wall of Philip Augustus. The present struc- 
ture is seventy-six feet high, and the principal arch is twenty-six 
feet wide and forty-five feet high. It was erected as a triumphal 
arch in 1672, by Louis XIV., for the purpose of commemorating 
his victories. The sculptures represent the triumphs of Louis le 
Grand, and' that above the arch is his passage of the Rhine. In 
1830 the arch was occupied by the insurgents, who fortified them- 
selves on the top of it, and held it against every effort of the 
troops to dislodge them. It was in the immediate vicinity of this 
arch that the Revolution of 1848 began. 

The Porte Saint Martin stands in the Boulevard St. Martin, 
just below the arch mentioned above. It is also a triumphal 
arch, designed to commemorate the victories of Louis XIV., but 
is vastly inferior in size and beauty to its neighbor. It was built 
in 1675, and is fifty-seven feet wide, and fifty-seven feet high. It 
is ornamented with a series of indifferent sculptures, one of 
which represents le grand monarque, as Hercules, in a full-bot- 
tomed wig. Like its neighbor it was occupied by the insurgents 
in 1830, but was not held so successfully. In 1848 it was the 
centre of much of the heaviest fighting. 

The Parks of Paris are numerous and very beautiful. The 
principal of these are the Champs Elysees and the Bois de 
Boulogne. 

Between the Place de la Concorde and the Arc de Triomphe 
is a broad avenue, bordered on each side for about half the dis- 
tance by a handsome park, ornamented with statues, fountains, 
and shrubbery. This is the most famous promenade in Paris — 
the Champs Elysees (Elysian Fields) — the beautiful rival of the 
Boulevards. The Avenue Gabriel forms the northern, and the 
Seine the southern boundary. The grounds originally extended 
to the Arc de Triomphe, which still forms the terminus of the 
Avenue des Champs Elysees, but since i860 the portion above 
the Avenue Montaigne has been laid off in streets, and built up 
in a great measure. The main avenue, from the Arch of Triumph 



206 AROUND THE WORLD. 

to the Obelisk of Luxor, is 2,400 yards, or nearly a mile and a half 
long. 

The Avenue des Champs Elysees, which is in reality a con- 
tinuation of the promenade formed by the main avenue of the 
Tuileries Gardens, rises in a continuous slope from the Place de 
la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe. About half way between 
these two points it is broken by an ornamental circle, in the 
centre of which stands a beautiful fountain. This is called the 
Rond Point. Several fine fountains and a number of statues are 
scattered through the gardens, and the entrance from the Place 
de la Concorde is ornamented with two fine groups placed there 
by order of the National Convention. The Palace of Industry 
occupies a large portion of the lower part of the grounds, and 
several concert-gardens, a circus, and some open-air theatres add 
to the attractions of the place. Prettily constructed booths, for 
amusement and refreshment, may be seen on all sides, and sev- 
eral puppet-shows draw crowds of children to them. 

The Champs Elysees are deserted in the morning, but towards 
three o'clock in the afternoon begin to fill up with carriages and 
promenaders. On fine afternoons, especially on Thursdays, 
which is the fashionable day, the grand avenue is thronged with 
thousands of brilliant equipages, and presents a scene unequalled 
in any other city in the world. At night the effect is truly 
brilliant and fascinating. 

Four miles from the Louvre, and just beyond the western 
walls of the city, is a magnificent park, covering 2,500 acres, and 
known as the Bois de Boulogne, from the little village of Bou- 
logne, just beyond it. The park is beautifully laid off, is pro- 
vided with fine drives, bridle-paths and walks, and is ornamented 
with choice shrubbery, flowers, lakes and fountains. The princi- 
pal sheet of water is Lac Inferieure, 1,200 yards long, and cover- 
ing about twenty-six acres. It is from two to ten feet deep, and 
contains two islands, on one of which is a cafe, and restaurant in 
a Swiss chalet. Pretty row-boats ply on the lake, at moderate 
charges. The banks are bordered by a series of charming walks 
and drives, which are always full of people in fair weather. The 
lawn between the lake and the fortifications is called the Pare 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 2QJ 

aux Daims, and is stocked with deer. The upper end of the 
lake is ornamented with a fine artificial waterfall, and with an 
open space provided with chairs, called the Rond des Cascades, 
just beyond is Lac Superieur (the "upper lake"), much smaller 
than its neighbor, and connected with it by a little strait spanned 
by a handsome bridge. A little to the south of this lake is the 
Butte Mortemart, a considerable mound formed of the earth ob- 
tained in excavating the lakes. It is prettily laid off, and com- 
mands a fine view. In the southeastern corner of the park is 
the Mare d' Auteuil, a pretty little natural lake, shaded by weep- 
ings willows. 

A broad and finely constructed avenue leads from the fortifi- 
cations, at the Porte Maillot, to the southwestern portion of the 
park, now occupied by the grounds connected with the race- 
course of Longchamps. At the end of this road is a magnificent 
artificial waterfall, forty feet in height. This is regarded by the 
Parisians as the chief beauty of the park, and the effect is indeed 
very fine and natural. An extensive view may be obtained from 
the top of these rocks of the meadows which border the Seine 
and the country back to Mont Valerien and Saint Cloud. 

Just beyond the cascade is the famous race-course of Long- 
champs, fitted up with handsome stands, booths, and every con- 
venience desirable at such a place. The Longchamps races are 
famous throughout the world, and draw people from all parts of 
Europe. 

No one can really see Paris thoroughly without making the 
journey up and down the river. The Seine enters Paris at the 
extreme southeastern limit of the municipal line, at the point 
where it is crossed by the Pont Napoleon III., and flows through 
the city in a generally northwestern direction as far as the Place 
de la Concorde. Here it makes a slight turn, and flows almost 
due west to the Bridge of the Alma, after which its course is 
southwest to the new bridge below the Bridge of Grenelle, at 
the end of the corporate limits — a total distance of about six 
English miles. 

For almost the entire distance the banks of the river are walled 
up with stone masonry, and are lined with quays which are bor- 



208 AROUND THE WORLD. 

dered with shade trees, and form a delightful promenade. The 
stream is crossed by twenty-seven bridges, some of stone, some 
of wire, and others of iron. These bridges are among the prin- 
cipal ornaments of Paris. 

Since the construction of the new sewers, a great and bene- 
ficial change has been wrought in the river and its appearance. 
The filth of the city is no longer cast into it, as before, but is 
carried by the grand sewer miles away, and emptied into the 
stream far from Paris. The city is not disfigured by dirty 
wharves and rows of filthy vessels, but fine granite quays, bor- 
dered by handsome shade trees, take the place of the usual 
accompaniments of a navigable river, and behind them are the 
long rows of palaces and other buildings. From almost any of 
the bridges the eye can range over the greater part of the river, 
and the view presented is unequalled in any other city in the 
world. 

All is bustle and activity along the river. Crowds are hurry- 
ing to and fro over the bridges, the quays are lined with patient 
fishermen during the milder months, scores are entering- and 
leaving the numerous bathing establishments which line the 
shores, and the washerwomen are making the best use of their 
tongues as well as of their hands in the queer floating houses 
in which they ply their trade. At rare intervals a heavily laden 
barge passes by, towed by a puffing steamer, and every few 
moments a fussy little passenger boat will dart under the 
bridges, or pause at the landing stages to discharge its human 
freight. 

They are queer little things, these passenger boats, or bateatix 
a vapeur, as the French call them. These particular vessels are 
termed "Steamboat-omnibuses," and ply between Bercy and 
Auteuil, some of them going a s far as Saint Cloud in the season 
of navigation. They are propellers, and resemble our canal 
boats for passengers. The deck in the middle of the boat is 
railed in, and provided with rows of seats, but there is an enclosed 
cabin at each end, in which one can take refuse from the weather. 
The boats are long and narrow, and their engines, which are 
placed amidships, take up but little room. Each boat is in charge 



GENERAL GRANT S VISIT TO PARIS. 200. 

of a conductor, who is also captain and clerk. It is steered by 
means of a tiller astern. The boats are not so fast or so strong 
as the penny steamers on the Thames, but they are much cleaner 
and much prettier. Landing stages are established at certain 
points along the river, and separate stages are provided for 
boats ascending and descending the stream. The fare from one 
end of the city to the other is five sous, which is cheap enough 
for a distance of six miles. There is no pleasanter method of 
travelling than these little steamers afford. They enable you to 
become thoroughly acquainted with the stream, to see the city 
from the water, and learn the river front better than you could 
from the bridges. Those who have not tried it, can hardly 
imagine what Paris looks like from the water. From the deck 
of one of these little boats the city is seen to its best advantage. 
Palaces, bridges, towers, prisons, churches, and columns, rise 
before you in one grand panorama, grander and more beautiful 
than I can paint it here. Pie has not seen Paris who has not 
viewed it from the deck of a "steamboat-omnibus." 

And at night, what a wonderful river is this! How dark and 
swift it flows under the gloomy arches of the bridges ! It makes 
you shudder as you look at it. How the lights twinkle upon the 
bridges and along the quays, and reflect and multiply themselves 
in the sullen waters below! The heavy outline of the Louvre 
rises grandly from the right shore, and the dark towers of the 
Conciergerie loom up sombrely in the distance, on the south, 
while Notre Dame, faintly seen in the far background, soars 
majestically towards heaven. See that little moving object, with 
its red and green eyes, darting towards us, puffing and panting 
like some fabled monster of the deep. It is a steamboat-omni- 
bus, and as we gaze at it, it is gone. 

Amongst the most interesting- features of the Seine are the 
numerous bathing establishments which line its shores. These 
are immense houses built out in the water, and communicating' 
with the shore by means of little foot-bridges. They are neatly 
ornamented with trees and shrubbery, and really add much to the 
river scenery. The interior consists of an immense tank, bor- 
dered on all sides by a platform ornamented with a pretty colon- 
14 



2IO AROUND THE WORLD. 

nade, and lined with long rows of doors opening upon a number 
of dressinof-rooms. At one end is the office of the establish- 
ment, and a counter for refreshments. The valuables of visitors 
may be deposited at the office, and a check or ticket received for 
them. Hair-dressing rooms are provided in some of the estab- 
lishments, and in all but the poorest, there is an apartment in 
which everything is kept in readiness to restore life to bathers 
who may be rescued from drowning. 

One of the most conspicuous objects in Paris is the ruined 
palace of the Tuileries, which was burned by the Communists in 
the second siege of Paris in 1871. The ruins are soon to be 
levelled with the ground, and the once famous palace, which was 
the home of the Napoleons, will disappear from sight. 

The Tuileries Gardens still remain, however, and constitute one 
of the prettiest and most retired spots in the city. 

Another building- which fell a victim to the rage of the Com- 
munists was the Hotel de Ville, or City Hall. It was burned by 
them when they saw their defeat was inevitable. It was a splen- 
did edifice, which dated from the Sixteenth Century. It is now 
being rebuilt, and will soon be completed. 

The large island which lies in the Seine was, as has been said, 
the site of the original city of Paris. It is still known as the 
Cite, and is one of the most interesting portions of modern Paris. 
Crossing the river at the Pont Neuf, one finds himself on the nar- 
row point which marks the lower end of Lutetia, the cradle of 
the great city around him. Here is the statue of Henry IV., and 
facing it is the entrance to the Place Dauphine, a spacious tri- 
angle, surrounded by old and high houses in the style of two cen- 
turies ago. It is one of the last vestiges of the Paris of Henry 
IV. and Louis XIII., and even this will soon give way to the im- 
provements designed for the island. 

Just beyond is the Palais de Justice, with the Prefecture of 
Police attached to it, occupying the island from shore to shore. 
In front of it is the Boulevard du Palais, connected with the north 
shore by the Pont au Change, and with the south shore by the 
Pont Saint Michel. Opposite the palace are the new buildings 
of the city courts, and a huge barrack for troops, and back of 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 



211 



these are the flower market of the island and the ancient Rue de 
la Cite. Here the Pont Notre Dame crosses to the north bank, 
and the Petit Pont to the south. The Hotel Dieu occupies the 
island now as far back as the front of the Cathedral, but between 
the church and the river, on the north side, is a dense mass of 
old houses — a fair specimen of what the island was before Napo- 
leon III. swept away the historic localities to make room for the 
new buildings you see all around you. Beyond these houses is 
the old Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris — -that grand poem in 




BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE LOUVRE AND TUILERIES. 

stone, which alone would repay you for crossing the ocean. The 
open space back of it, now railed in and planted as a park, is the 
Place Notre Dame, in the midst of which stands a beautiful 
Gothic fountain. The Rue d'Arcole crosses the square in front 
of the church, and communicates with the north shore by the 
Pont d'Arcole, and with the south by the Pont Double. The 
Archbishop's Bridge (Pont de l'Archeveche) stands just back of 
the Place Notre Dame, and joins the island to the south shore, 



212 AROUND THE WORLD. 

while just across the quay is the Pont St. Louis, connecting the 
Cite with the He St. Louis. The low building between the two 
bridges is the Morgue. 

The most prominent buildings on the Island are the Palais de 
Justice and the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. The Palais 
de Justice, or Palace of Justice, is the name applied to the im- 
mense range of buildings extending entirely across the island, 
and comprising the Palace proper, the Sainte Chapelle, the Con- 
ciergerie, and the Salle des Pas Perdus. It is the seat of many 
of the principal law courts of the city. A Roman Castle formerly 
occupied the site, and the ancient palace was the official residence 
of the kings of France until the reign of Francis I. Though the 
monarchs did not always dwell in it, they commonly repaired to 
it upon State occasions, and it was regarded by all the kingdom 
as the seat of the royal authority. Since the kings left it, it has 
been used as a Parliament House, Court House, and Prison. 
The greater portion of the present building is modern. The 
vaults under the Salle des pas Perdus, the towers on the quay, 
the Conciergerie, and the Sainte Chapelle are all that remain of 
the original edifice. Frequent fires and extensive restorations 
have changed the rest. 

On the side of the quay is a gloomy front with four tall towers. 
That at the corner of the Boulevard is the ancient Tour de 
l'Horloge, with a splendid clock-dial. The tower is original, but 
the dial was erected in 1853, in imitation of the original which 
was placed there in 1585. West of the clock tower are three 
gloomy, sharp-pointed turrets. The first is called the Tour de 
Monteomerv and the next the Tour de Caesar. Between them 
is the entrance to the Conciergerie, noted as the door out of 
which so many of the victims of the Revolution passed on their 
way to the guillotine. The third turret, the Tour Bombee, is 
placed at a greater distance below, and together with the build- 
ings lying between it and the Tour de Caesar forms a part of the 
Conciergerie. 

The eastern front of the building is very fine, and is broken in 
the centre by a vast court-yard, at the bottom of which is a broad, 
handsome stairway leading to the main entrance. The Sainte 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 213 

Chapelle rises to the left of the porch and back of the side 
range. 

Passing up the stairs you enter a vast ante-hall. In front of 
you is the stairway leading to the National Court, and on your 
right, at the end of the hall, is the entrance to the Salle des pas 
Perdus. This is a vast hall, serving now as an antechamber to 
the courts of the building. It occupies the site of the great hall 
of the palace of Saint Louis which was used for State ceremonials 
and for public festivities. The original hall is admirably described 
in the opening chapters of Victor Hugo's " Notre Dame de 
Paris." It was burned in 1618, and it is said that the fire was 
occasioned by burning the great mass of documents connected 
with the trial of Ravaillac, the assassin of Henry IV., and there 
is reason to believe that the conflagration was brought about in- 
tentionally in order to destroy all possible proof of the complicity 
of Marie de Medici in the murder of her husband. 

The Conciergerie was the ancient prison of the palace, and is 
still used as a place of temporary confinement for persons await- 
ing trial. It derives its chief interest from the tragic scenes 
which took place in it during the Revolution. Most of the 
prisoners sentenced to the guillotine were confined here before 
their execution, and on the terrible 2d of September, 1792, two 
hundred and eighty-eight prisoners were massacred here by the 
mob. Marie Antoinette, Bailly, Malesherbes, Madam Roland, 
Danton, and Robespierre were all imprisoned here, and went 
from here to the scaffold. 

The Sainte Chapelle, or Holy Chapel, is included within the 
Palace of Justice, and at present forms the official chapel of the 
municipality of Paris. It was begun in 1245 and finished in 
1 248 at a cost of 800,000 francs. It was erected by Saint Louis 
to contain the thorns of the Saviour's crown and the wood of the 
True Cross, which were purchased by the pious king from the 
Emperor Baldwin for the sum of 2,000,000 francs. Saint Louis 
firmly believed that the relics were genuine, for besides paying 
such an immense price for them and building this costly casket to 
receive them, he conveyed them here with his own hands, walking 
barefoot through the streets of Paris. After his death his heart 



214 AROUND THE WORLD. 

was deposited here. The chapel is small, but is altogether the 
most beautiful specimen of Gothic art in France. 

The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris lies at the upper end 
of the island. According to the old tradition the site was first 
marked by a Roman temple to Jupiter, at which the sailors navi- 
gating the Seine were wont to say their prayers and offer their 
gifts. In the year 365 a Christian church was built where the 
Pagan temple had formerly stood. About two centuries later, 
Childeric I., son of Clovis, yielding to the entreaties of St. 
Germain, commenced, about the year 565, the erection of a new 
cathedral immediately adjoining the old one, which was known 
as the Church of St. Mary, or Notre Dame. Childeric dedicated 
his church to St. Stephen, and for a long time it was termed, in 
conjunction with the other, "the Cathedral." In 584, after the 
assassination of Childeric, Fredegonda fled with her treasures to 
the hioh altar of Notre Dame, and there found an inviolable 
Sanctuary. 

The two churches of St. Mary and St. Stephen were almost in 
ruins at the commencement of the Tenth Century. That of St. 
Mary being the principal seat of the Archbishop of Paris, natu- 
rally received the chief care. Charles the Simple granted Bishop 
Anscheric the means of partially restoring it in 907, and other 
restorations were made by the Archdeacon Stephen de Garlande, 
in 1 123. 

In spite of these improvements, however, the church was in 
need of greater repairs, and was too small for the necessities of 
the city. In 11 60, Maurice de Sully, who had risen from a low 
origin to a very high rank in the church, signalized his accession 
to the Archiepiscopate of Paris, by volunteering to replace the 
old church with a larger and grander edifice. He also determined 
to unite the church of St. Stephen with that of Notre Dame, and 
thus form one immense Cathedral. Accordingly the work of 
clearing away the old churches was begun, and the first stone 
of the new edifice was laid in 11 63, by Pope Alexander the 
Third, then a fugitive at the Court of Louis le Jeune. The 
structure went up rapidly, and the high altar was consecrated on 
the Wednesday after Easter, in 1182, by Cardinal Henri, the 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 21 5 

Pope's Legate, and Archbishop Maurice de Sully. Three years 
later, in 1185, Heraclius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, preached 
the third crusade in the choir of the church. The choir was 
finished in 11 96, and the nave about 1223. In 12 18 the old 
Church of St. Stephen was pulled down to make way for the 
south transept. The magnificent south portal is the work of 
Maitre Jehan de Chelles, who must have been a genius in his 
art. The north transept dates from 1250. The rest of the 
building appears to have been finished about the year 1350, 
and to have remained unaltered until 1700, when a series of 
wretched mutilations, designed as improvements, was begun. 
During the present century very successful efforts have been 
made to repair these barbarisms, and restore the old pile, as 
near as possible, to its original state. The building has several 
times suffered from the violence of mobs, and during the Revo- 
lution was greatly damaged by them. 

The Cathedral has played a prominent part in the history of 
the city. Being the Metropolitan church, it takes precedence of 
all others. It was in this church that Saint Dominic preached 
his powerful sermons, and, according to the old legend, was 
blessed with a miraculous vision of the Virgin. Here Raymond 
of Toulouse abjured his heresy, presenting himself before the 
high altar, clad only in a coarse shirt; here Henry VI. of 
England was crowned King of France in 1431 ; and here, in 
1436, was chanted the Te Deum of gratitude for the recapture 
of Paris by the army of Charles VII. How many marriages, 
funereal rites, pomps and ceremonies the old pile has witnessed 
during its six hundred years ! Though often sacked and dese- 
crated, it is still grand and beautiful, the noblest of all the Gothic 
monuments of France. Here the haughty priests kept a king 
waiting in the streets until it should be their pleasure to accept 
his humble apology and admit him. Here they said the prayers 
of the Church over the Sans-Culottes who died in breaking- 
down the Bastille; and here was formed, in 1793, the infamous 
"Temple of Reason." On the 10th of November, of that year, 
a woman, the wife of one Momoro, was seated on the high altar 
and worshipped as the "Goddess of Reason." In 1802 the 



21 6 AROUND THE WORLD. 

sacrilege was partly atoned for by the restoration of the church 
to the uses of religion. Here the Pope placed the Imperial 
Crown on the brow of Napoleon I., and here the Emperor 
Napoleon III. was married in 1853. 

As you approach the Cathedral through the Parvis Notre 
Dame you come suddenly upon the full blaze of the glories of 
its western front. Before you is a massive facade pierced with 
three immense doors, the arches of which are covered with 
elaborate sculptures. Those of the central portal represent the 
Last Judgment; and those of the two lateral portals scenes in 
the life of the Virgin Mary. The side niches are filled with 
saints, prophets, and angels in stone ; and in the twenty-eight 
arches above the doors are statues of the same number of Kings 
of France, from Childeric I. down to Philip Augustus. A fine 
gallery rests on these arches, on a level with the vast rose win- 
dow which is flanked on each side by an immense double arch- 
way, supporting a smaller rose window. Above the windows 
rises a light gallery running across the entire front of the church, 
and supported by Gothic columns of the most delicate construc- 
tion. A square tower, pierced with a double arched window, is 
on each side. These towers are forty feet wide on each front, 
and are two hundred and twenty-four feet high from the ground 
to the summit. In the centre of the lower gallery, and just in 
front of the rose window, is a group representing the Virgin and 
two angels. To the right of this group is a statue of Adam ; 
and to the left, one of Eve. The whole front is covered with 
sculptures. 

Pass around now to the Archbishop's bridge, and enjoy the 
magnificent spectacle which lies before you. Here is the whole 
church in sight at the same moment. To the right of the square 
towers is the south transept with its three sharp gable ends, and 
its glorious rose window, showing grandly above the pretty 
Sacristy. From the centre of the roof, at the cutting point of 
the cross aisles, springs a slender spire, which replaces the old 
one destroyed during the Revolution, for its lead. You have an 
excellent opportunity of studying the singular leaden roof, and 
the graceful flying buttresses which surround the octagonal- 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 21 7 

shaped choir. On the other side is the north transept, with a 
rose window matching, but not excelling, that of the south 
transept. The large door on this side dates from the year 
131 2, and the little one, called the Porte Rouge (Red Gate), from 
1 41 9, and was erected by the Duke of Burgundy, in expiation 
of his crime, the assassination of the Duke of Orleans. 

Passing through the narrow street which bounds the church on 
the north side, you come out into the great square again, and 
pause once more to look up at the stone gargoyles of the square 
towers. How grotesque and diabolical they are ! For nearly six 
long centuries they have been standing there, leaning over the 
dark towers and gazing down upon the city below. Griffins, 
dragons, and figures whose strange, weird shapes must have 
been the invention of a diabolical imagination, look down upon 
you from these lofty galleries. As you watch them you are 
startled by the life-like aspect of both form and feature. The 
longer you gaze at them the more they seem to be living, and at 
last you are almost ready to believe that the Evil One haunts the 
towers with his hosts. They offer a strange contrast to the 
beautiful sculptures below, which tell so eloquently of eternal 
happiness. 

As you pass in through the grand portal a sharp disappoint- 
ment meets you. Instead of the grandeur in which you have 
been revelling since you began your inspection of the Cathedral, 
you are brought face to face with a hideous, rickety leather door, 
which closes the entrance. You dash it open impatiently, and step 
from the bright glare of the day into the dim, saintly light of the 
old church. The change is so sudden that you are forced to wait 
until your eyes are accustomed to the gloom. 

The first thing you see is a perfect wilderness of arches, and 
your first feeling is one of disappointment. Unlike Westminster 
Abbey, this old Cathedral does not flash all its grandeur upon you 
at the first sight, and it is only after wandering fairly up to the 
altar rail, and standing where the glories of nave, transept, and 
choir are all in full view, that you begin to realize the magnificence 
of the old pile. 

The church is built in the form of a Latin cross, and is three 



2l8 AROUND THE WORLD. 

hundred and ninety feet long from east to west. The transept is 
not so lone nor so wide. The central aisle is one hundred and 
five feet high from the pavement to the roof. On each side of 
both nave and choir is a double row of arches, with side chapels 
extending into the spaces between the buttresses. The pillars 
support one hundred and twenty pointed arches, and above these 
are immense galleries or tribunes, which extend around both nave 
and choir. Over the western entrance is the organ loft, contain- 
ing a splendid instrument by Cliquot. The choir is divided from 
the nave by an exquisitely worked railing of iron, and the various 
doors of the church are magnificently wrought. The choir is 
paved with marble, and is surrounded with a gorgeous wainscot- 
ing, in which are placed the stalls of the twenty-six ecclesiastical 
dignitaries connected with the church. The hijjh altar is deco- 
rated with great richness and beauty. It stands on a raised 
platform which is approached by a number of steps. It is of pure 
Languedoc marble, and is covered with fine bas-reliefs. It replaces 
the old altar destroyed during the Revolution. Four immense 
rose windows adorn the east and west ends, and the north 
and south ends of the transepts, and rich stained glass windows 
surround the choir. Many of the chapels are likewise provided. 
The church contains one hundred and thirteen colored windows, 
and thirty-seven chapels. The latter are tawdry as a rule, and are 
real blots upon the beauty of the old pile. Your best plan is to 
stand where you cannot see them. The decorations of the church 
are very simple, the walls are uncolored, and there is nothing to 
mar the impression which the grandeur of the edifice produces. 
I make no attempt to describe it ; it must be seen, for no language 
can do it justice. 

At the gate which separates the choir from the south transept 
sits the " Swiss," or Beadle, in a pompous, showy uniform. You 
will generally find him reading a novel. He seems to care little 
for the beauties which surround him, and looks up with an 
abstracted air as you ask for a ticket of admission within the 
railing. Half a franc is the fee, and this sum also entitles you to 
an inspection of the treasures contained in the Sacristy. You 
will, most probably, wander around the choir at first, and gaze at 




CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME— FRONT VIEW. 

(219) 



220 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the fine paintings and sculptures collected in the chapels. There 
are several fine monuments in this part of the church, but the 
scores which made the holy place so interesting - were removed 
during the reign of Louis XV., when the present handsome mar- 
ble pavement took the place of the old slabs. The chapel of the 
Virgin, back of the high altar, is very pretty, but has nothing of 
the grandeur of the main building. 

The Sacristy lies on the south side of the church, and you 
enter by a door opening into the choir. It was built nearly 
twenty years ago by M. Viollet le Due, and is a beautiful speci- 
men of modern Gothic art. The old white-headed official in 
charge is a pattern of good breeding and accommodation, though 
he does look rather hard at you as you enter, or administers a 
mild but decided rebuke if you omit to close the door. He is 
seemingly engrossed in the task of showing you the articles in 
his charge, but you notice all the while that he is watching you 
closely. He has need to be suspicious, for Notre Dame has not 
been fortunate in the possession of its treasures. They were 
stolen in 1793, in the riot of 1831, and again in i860. Upon the 
last-mentioned occasion, some of the articles were thrown into 
the Seine, from which they were fished out. Here you will see 
one of the richest collections of jewels in France. Diamonds, 
rubies, emeralds, pearls, opals, and gems of every description. 
The church plate is massive and gorgeous, and is worth a fortune 
in itself. Amongst other articles is the Ostensoir (or vessel in 
which the host is placed) of Saint Louis. It was formerly lodged 
in the Sainte Chapelle, but was restored to its original condition 
and presented to this church by Louis XVIII., at the baptism of 
the Duke of Bordeaux. Here are the cross worn by Saint Vin- 
cent-de-Paul, when ministering at the death-bed of Louis XIII. ; 
the coronation robes of Napoleon I., and other articles used at 
his consecration ; ecclesiastical robes of great beauty and im- 
mense value ; and a number of articles presented to the church 
by the Great Emperor and Napoleon the Third. The most 
precious of all the treasures, however, are contained in a reli- 
quaire, perfectly gorgeous with jewels. The Sacristan tells you, 
with deep reverence, that they are two thorns from the crown of 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 221 

martyrdom which encircled the brow of the Saviour of mankind. 
Saint Louis brought them back with him from Palestine, and built 
the Sainte Chapelle to contain them. Here are also a bit of the 
"true cross," one of the nails of the cross, which formerly be- 
longed to the Church of Saint Denis ; and the whip with which 
Saint Louis used to scourge his royal flesh. 

One of the edifices most frequently visited by General Grant, 
who seemed never to weary of wandering through it, was the 
Palace of the Louvre. The Louvre, strictly speaking, comprises 
that immense pile of buildings enclosing a square court, which 
lies on the right bank of the Seine, between the river and the 
Rue de Rivoli, and which faces the church of Saint Germain 
l'Auxerrois, on the east, and the Place du Carrousel and the 
Tuileries, on the west. It must not be confounded with the 
Louvre Gallery, which connects it with the Tuileries, on the south 
or river side, nor the ranges which answer a similar purpose on 
the side of the Rue de Rivoli. 

In the days of the earlier kings of France, the site, which was 
then far beyond the limits of Paris, was occupied by a royal 
castle or hunting-lodge. Philip Augustus, in 1200, replaced this 
with a fortress which he also used as a prison. The present 
structure was begun by Francis I., who intended to make it a 
residence worthy of the kings of France. Catharine de Medicis 
came to the Louvre to live after the death of Henry II., and was 
the first French sovereign to occupy it. She added greatly to it 
but did not complete it, that honor being reserved for the gallant 
Henry IV., who was married to Margaret of Valois, in the half- 
finished palace, in 1572, just five days before the Massacre of St. 
Bartholomew. Louis XIV. greatly enlarged the Louvre, and 
richly adorned it, being resolved to make it a monument of his 
glory. He died leaving his work in an unfinished state, and so 
it remained until Napoleon I. completed it entirely, and converted 
it into a museum for the treasures of art which he had captured 
during his wars. 

The Colonnade of the Louvre occupies the eastern front of 
the Palace, and faces the Place du Louvre. It is five hundred 
and four feet long and eighty-two feet high, and rests upon a 



222 



AROUND THE WORLD. 



ground story, the front of which is singularly plain and bare of 
ornament. Above it is an open balustrade, the pedestals of which 
are, according to the original plan, to be ornamented with trophies. 
This part of the plan, however, still remains to be carried out. 
The tympanum of the central pediment is decorated with a bas- 
relief representing Minerva in the act of placing the bust of 
Louis XIV. on a pedestal, while History is engraving the dedica- 
tion, Ludovico Magno. Under the empire there was sculptured 
above the principal doorway a statue of Fame in a chariot con- 
ducted by genii. The colonnade consists of twenty-eight double 
Corinthian pillars. The facade which it adorns, " by the beautiful 




LOUVRE GALLERY : THE FAVORITE RESORT OF GENERAL GRANT. 

symmetry of its parts, the fine execution of its ornaments, the 
just economy of their distribution, and by the imposing grandeur 
of its extent, is justly admired as a chef d' ceuvre in the architec- 
ture of the age of Louis XIV." The southern front is also very 
fine. Like the eastern front it has a highly ornamental pediment, 
and is beautifully decorated with forty Corinthian pilasters. The 
northern front consists of a central pavilion, with two lateral ones, 
slightly but tastefully ornamented. The western front is intended 
to harmonize with the buildings erected in the Place Napoleon. 
Within the Court, the top and bottom stories of this facade have 
been adopted as patterns for the corresponding ones of the other 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 223 

sides of the quadrangle. The lower story is composed of a series 
of circular arcades, divided by Corinthian pilasters, with a lofty 
window beneath each arch. The windows of the second story 
are tastefully adorned with carved and triangular pediments, a 
pillar of the composite order dividing each window from the one 
adjoining. The windows of the upper story are splendidly orna- 
mented with groups in sculpture, trophies, etc. The principal 
gateway to the Louvre occupies the centre of this facade, and 
bears the name of the Pavilion de l'Horloge. This pavilion is 
surmounted by a quadrangular dome, supported by gigantic 
Caryatides by Sarrazin. The various projections of this side are 
richly ornamented with sculpture. All the gateways are sur- 
mounted by pediments, which have in their tympans sculptures 
by Couston, Ramey, and Lesueur. Two ranges of Doric pillars, 
fluted, with a carriage road in the middle, form the southern en- 
trance ; pillars of different styles, of the Ionic order, distinguish 
those of the northern and western ; Doric, those of the eastern 
vestibule. The Court of the Louvre is also equally beautiful. 

The Palace is now occupied by a series of museums, which 
contain one of the most superb collections of works of art in the 
world. The Museums of Sculpture are situated on the ground 
floor of the Palace, and occupy the larger portion of the great 
quadrangle. They are five in number, and comprise sculptures 
of every period and country. The halls of ancient sculpture are 
especially rich in rare and valuable objects, many of which are of 
great historic interest. 

The picture galleries are on the first floor of the Palace, and 
comprise the Great Gallery and a number of smaller halls. It 
is impossible to offer anything like a description of the hundreds 
of paintings which line their walls. It would require a volume 
to do so. We can only say that the rooms are filled with many 
of the most exquisite pictures in Europe. Raphael, Titian, Cara- 
vaggio, Guido, Paul Veronese, Michael Angelo, Murillo, Jordaens, 
Breughel, Paul Potter, Rubens, Van Dyke, Ouentin Metsis, Rem- 
brandt, and others, shed their glories down this long hall. The 
splendors of the place must be seen to be appreciated. 

The French schools in the new gallery, running parallel with 



2 24 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the old, contain some fine specimens of early French art. 
Boucher, Lebrun, Jean Cousin, David, Freminet, Claude Gellee, 
Francois Gerard, Greuze, Pierre Guerin, Jean Jouvenet, Lancret, 
Pierre Mignard, Nicolas Poussin, Pierre Prudhon, Leopold Robert, 
Xavier Sigalon, Eustache Lesueur, Valentin, and Joseph Vien are 
well represented here. 

Along the galleries are numerous temporary stands, easels, 
etc., at which artists are constantly at work copying such paint- 
ings as they may have orders for, or hope to find purchasers for. 
Many of these workers are women. They are ugly and careless 
in their dress, and altogether are unattractive specimens of their 
sex. 

The Louvre contains at present 558 paintings of the Italian 
schools, 618 of the German, Flemish, and Dutch schools, 650 of 
the French school, and twenty of the Spanish school, making a 
total of 1,846 paintings. 

The Louvre also contains a larg-e and valuable collection of 
engravings, drawings, and plans. It has also a large and valu- 
able Museum of Antiquities and a museum well filled with the 
relics of the various sovereigns of France from the time of 
Childeric I. 

The Palace of the Luxembourg stands in the midst of the 
pretty gardens which bear its name, on the south side of the 
Seine, at the lower end of the Boulevard St. Michel. It was 
begun in the fifteenth century, by Robert de Sancy, and was 
enlarged and completed in 1583, by the Duke Epinay de Lux- 
embourg. After the death of Henry IV., Marie de Medici 
purchased, demolished the buildings, and erected the existing 
magnificent structure. It subsequently passed into the posses- 
sion of the Crown. During the Reign of Terror it was a prison, 
and afterwards became the official residence of the Directory. 

The plan of the building is that of a square. The principal 
entrance faces the Rue de Vaugirard. This front is a fine facade 
forming a terrace, in the middle of which is a pavilion highly 
ornamented, and containing some sculpture. Back of this lies 
the principal court of the Palace, which is 360 feet long by 210 
feet deep. At each end of the terrace stands a pavilion, each of 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 225 

which is connected with the main building by a handsome wing. 
The facade towards the garden is elaborately ornamented. The 
Pavilion de THorloge, which stands in the centre, is richly embel- 
lished by allegorical figures. This part of the Palace was much 
improved by Louis Philippe, but the entire building is one of the 
most beautiful and elaborate in the city. 

Under the First and Second Empires the Luxembourg was 
the Palace of the French Senate. Its interior decorations are 
very rich, the state apartments being among the handsomest in 
Paris. The Hall of the Senate is a fine chamber. 

The Picture Gallery is always open to the public, and contains 
a fine collection of the works of French artists of the present 
century. 

The gardens are very beautiful, and are among the most 
popular in the city. They are ornamented with several fine 
fountains and a number of statues of the famous women of 
French history. In front of the southern facade of the Palace is 
a delightful flower garden, filled with a tasteful selection of plants 
and flowers, and ornamented with fountains and statuary. A 
grove of trees extends around the flower garden, and is sepa- 
rated from it by a stone balustrade reached by a flight of steps. 
Through the terrace thus formed a broad avenue extends from 
the Palace to the Observatory. The trees and shrubbery are 
fine, and are arranged with great taste. 

The Palais Royal was another of the favorite resorts of Gen- 
eral Grant while in Paris. It was built by Cardinal Richelieu, 
and left by him at his death to Louis XIII., upon the express 
condition that the Crown should never part with it. The Palace 
is situated in the Place du Palais Royal, and faces the Rue de 
Rivoli. The principal entrance is through a triple arched gate- 
way, leading into a large court. The buildings on each side of 
this court advance to the street, and are on a line with the gate- 
way. The building at the bottom of the court is ornamented 
with Ionic columns supporting a semicircular pediment, in the 
centre of which is a handsome clock supported by two figures. 
The entire front is elaborately decorated, and presents a showy 
appearance from the street. The interior of the Palace does not 
is 



226 



AROUND THE WORLD. 



correspond with its exterior. It contains some fine halls, never- 
theless, and the grand stairway is famous as a work of art. This 
portion of the Palace is not open to visitors. 

The court-yard behind the Palace is surrounded by shops, and 
is separated from the gardens beyond by a magnificent glass 
gallery, called the Gallerie d'Orleans. It is the most magnificent 
of all the covered streets or passages of Paris, and is lined with 
handsome shops. 

Beyond this gallery are the gardens of the Palace, surrounded 




GARDENS OF THE PALAIS ROYAL, PARIS. 

on all sides by magnificent arcades. The grounds are 230 yards 
long by 100 yards wide, and are ornamented with shrubbery, 
statuary, and fountains. They constitute one of the favorite 
places of resort for the Parisians, and are daily filled, from six to 
eleven o'clock, with thousands in search of pleasure. In mild 
weather there is music by a military band, which performs here 
for an hour or two before sunset, and until near midnight the 
crowds linger in the gardens enjoying the delicacies of the Cafe 
de la Rotonde. 



GENERAL GRANT'S VISIT TO PARIS. 2 27 

The galleries surrounding the grounds afford one of the most 
brilliant and interesting sights of the city. They are lined with 
cafes, and scores of small shops, devoted to the sale of jewelry, 
both real and imitation, fancy goods of all kinds, cutlery, military 
goods, books, curiosities, etc., etc. The display in the windows 
of these establishments is brilliant beyond description. The 
whole square constitutes a vast bazaar cut up into a hundred or 
more booths of various sizes. Jewels of every kind, from the 
gleaming diamond to the more humble stones, flash in the win- 
dows and dazzle your eyes with their brilliancy. Watches of all 
sizes, shapes, and qualities, vie with the precious stones. 

A stranger, seeing these galleries for the first time, wonders 
how it is possible for so many persons of the same trade to earn 
their living here. Half a dozen jewelers will display their wares 
side by side, and all will do well, for the shops of the Palais 
Royal are amongst the most profitable in the city. Thousands 
of people come here every night, attracted by the beauty and 
brilliancy of the scene, and thousands of francs change hands 
before the evening - is over. 

The gardens and galleries, however, do not constitute the only 
attractions of the place. The floor above the shops is taken up 
with numerous restaurants, some of which are among the most 
famous in Paris. They are crowded morning and evening with 
persons in quest of their meals. These establishments having 
been already described, I pass them by. 

The Theatre Francais and the Theatre du Palais Royal are 
situated within the limits of the palace, and furnish another 
source of interest and amusement. 

General Grant also made frequent visits to the Bourse, and 
was much interested in watching the proceedings there. 

The great money and stock Exchange of the City is the Bourse, 
situated in the centre of the Place de la Bourse. It is an impos- 
ing edifice, a parallelogram in shape, surrounded by a colonnade 
of sixty-six Corinthian pillars, and is the best specimen of classical 
architecture in Paris. It is two hundred and twelve feet long, 
one hundred and twenty-six broad, and fifty-seven high. 

When the ancient Parloir de Bourgeois went down, there was 



2 28 AROUND THE WORLD. 

no meeting-place in the city for merchants, and the result was 
that business in stocks and money was transacted entirely at the 
offices of the brokers, which were located principally in the Rue 
Ouincampoix. The want of a central exchange was sorely felt, 
and a place of meeting was organized in the Hotel Mazarin, 
^famous as the residence of Law, the great speculator. During 
the Revolution the exchange was removed to the Church of the 
Petits Peres ; but when Napoleon became Emperor he determined 
to provide the city with a Bourse worthy of the business of Paris. 
Accordingly he had the old Convent of the Filles de Saint 
Thomas demolished, and the present Exchange begun. The 
foundations were laid in 1808, but the edifice was not completed 
until 1826. The exterior is very fine. A broad flight of steps 
at each end leads to the entrance doors, and the four corners of 
the building are ornamented with statues of Commerce, Com- 
mercial Law, Industry, and Agriculture. The Courts of Com- 
merce formerly sat in this building, but have been removed 
recently to the splendid edifice opposite the Palace of Justice. 

The interior contains a number of offices, and an immense hall 
for the transaction of business. The latter is handsomely deco- 
rated, and contains some fine frescoes. In the centre is a circular 
space enclosed with an iron railing. It is called La Corbeille, 
and around it the brokers collect to exchange bargains. At the 
east end of the hall is another railed space, called the Parquet. 
It is devoted exclusively to the stock-brokers (Agents de Change). 
These are sixty in number, and are appointed by the Govern- 
ment. The hall is surrounded by a wide gallery, from which 
spectators, upon the payment of a fee, may look down upon the 
transactions below, and truly it is a sight worth witnessing. 

Business opens at one o'clock p. m., and the huge hall is filled 
with a noisy, excited crowd, all buying and selling stocks of 
various kinds. How they yell, and scream, and gesticulate ! 
With what feverish eagerness or nervous dread do they listen 
to the various quotations ! The slightest rise may make this 
man's fortune, or the slightest depreciation may ruin his neigh- 
bor. You see here much the same sights that are witnessed in 
Wall Street ; the same frenzy, the same recklessness, the same 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 229 

haste to be rich without labor, and at once ; the same instanta- 
neous accumulation of riches, and the same sudden and over- 
whelming disaster and ruin. Shut your ears and look down into 
the frenzied pit from your lofty gallery, and you may well imagine 
yourself in the Gold Room in New York, in so far as the men 
themselves are concerned. The sale of stocks is over at three 
o'clock, but other commercial transactions are carried on until 
five. 

Naturally General Grant made a visit to the Hotel des In- 
valides, where rest the ashes of the great Napoleon. This 
massive edifice stands on the south bank of the Seine, just 
opposite the Champs Elysees, and was founded by Louis XIV. 
in 1670. It is an asylum for veteran soldiers who have become 
disabled by wounds or sickness in the service of the country. 
Between it and the river is an esplanade planted with trees. 

Between the court in front of the building and the Esplanade, 
is a dry ditch, and just behind this is the "Triumphal Battery," 
composed of eighteen guns, fourteen of which were captured 
during the wars of the First Empire, two at Sebastopol, and two 
at Algiers. These guns stand in demi-batteries, one on each 
side of the grand gateway. To the right and left of them are 
twenty other pieces captured in Algeria, China, Cochin China, 
and Egypt. 

Back of the court is a garden, which the old pensioners are 
allowed to cultivate, and at the end of it extends the principal 
facade. It is four stories high, two hundred and twenty-five 
yards long, is pierced with one hundred and thirty-three win- 
dows, and is richly ornamented with trophies and statues. The 
entrance is in the form of a triumphal arch, the tympanum of 
which is ornamented with a bass-relief representing Louis XIV., 
on horseback, attended by Justice and Prudence. The east and 
west ends are ornamented with handsome pavilions, and the 
whole front has an appearance of massive grandeur, in full 
harmony with the faded, time-worn hue that is overspreading 
the entire pile. The Governor, usually a Marshal of France, 
and the lieutenant-governor reside in this portion of the 
establishment. 



23O AROUND THE WORLD. 

The buildings and grounds cover an area of sixteen acres, and 
include about eighteen different courts, and afford accommodations 
for about five thousand veterans. The courts of the main build- 
ing are five in number. The principal one is the " Court of 
Honor," three hundred and fifteen feet long by one hundred 
and ninety-two feet broad. It lies just back of the main 
entrance, and is surrounded by a long corridor, the walls of 
which are decorated with paintings illustrating the military 
history of France from the earliest times. 

The hospital is capable of accommodating five thousand in- 
mates, but at present is occupied by about three thousand. The 
inmates wear a blue uniform with white metal buttons, and silver 
lace trimmings, and a cocked hat. Each one receives an annual 
allowance of money, besides his clothing, food, and quarters. 
The sum varies according to the rank of the recipient. The pri- 
vates receive twenty-four francs per annum, and the Governor 
40,000 francs. Twenty-six Sisters of Charity and two hundred 
and sixty servants attend upon the veterans. 

You pass out through the great gates, and follow the street 
wall around to the Place Vauban, in order to enter that portion 
of the church of the hospital surmounted by the dome, which 
contains the tomb of Napoleon I. The portal is very rich, and is 
ornamented with statues and Doric and Corinthian columns. 
Above the roof rises the noble dome built by Mansard at the close 
of the seventeenth century. He took nearly thirty years to build 
it, and it is one of his finest works. It is covered with lead and 
is richly gilded and sculptured. From any elevated point of the 
city you can see the sunlight shining on it, but the effect, while 
good in itself, is not in keeping with the venerable appearance of 
the rest of the building. From the summit of the cross to the 
ground it is three hundred and twenty-three feet. 

The interior of the church is very beautiful. The magnificent 
high altar at the end facing the entrance is surmounted by a 
canopy supported by four black marble columns, each twenty-two 
feet high, and consisting of an entire block. The capitals are 
gilded, but the light which falls on them from the painted win- 
dows is so arranged as to give them the appearance of mother- 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 



231 



of-pearl. The cupola is finely painted, and rises majestically 
above the crypt. The sides of the church are occupied by eight 
fine chapels. The old chapel of Saint Therese contains the tomb 
of Turenne, and the chapel of the Virgin the tomb of Vauban. 
They lie immediately opposite each other. In the chapel of 
Saint Jerome are the remains of Jerome Bonaparte, the brother 
of Napoleon, and in another those of Joseph, the ex-King of 
Spain, and eldest brother of Napoleon. The Emperor's remains 
were deposited in the chapel of Saint Jerome upon their arrival 
from Saint Helena, and remained there until the completion of 
their present resting-place. 




TOMB OF NAPOLEON I. 



In the centre of the church and immediately under the great 
dome, is the mausoleum of Napoleon I. It consists of a circular 
crypt open above/and surrounded by a marble balustrade, over 
which you can look down into the tomb. The crypt is nineteen 
feet deep, and in the centre is the sarcophagus of the Emperor, a 
massive solid block of polished red sandstone from Lake Onega, 
in Finland, weighing 1 about thirteen tons. Twelve colossal stat- 
ues of victory support the balustrade. The pavement is in 
mosaic with festoons of flowers and the names of Napoleon's 
greatest victories. At one end of the crypt is a niche of black 
marble, in which stands a fine statue of Napoleon in his Imperial 



232 AROUND THE WORLD. 

robes. A lamp, always burning, hangs before it, and beneath the 
lamp is an antique altar on which are placed the three keys of the 
coffins in which the body was laid at Saint Helena, the sword used 
by the Emperor at Austerlitz, the hat he wore at Eylau, and the 
gold crown presented to him by the city of Cherbourg. On each 
side of the vault are the standards taken by him in battle. The 
tomb is very handsome, but not as imposing as it should have 
been. 

Two winding stairways under the high altar of the church lead 
to the vault below. The entrance to the Emperor's tomb is closed 
by two magnificent bronze gates, and on either side of the en- 
trance are the tombs of Marshals Duroc and Bertrand, Napo- 
leon's most devoted friends in life, and the guardians of his rest 
in death. Over the portal of the entrance is an inscription taken 
from the Emperor's last will, " I wish my ashes to repose on the 
banks of the Seine, in the midst of that French people whom I 
have loved so well." 

Visitors are not allowed to enter the vault, but must pause at 
the closed gates. No rude footsteps are heard around the ashes 
of the great Conqueror, and even in the church above the crowd 
is silent and subdued, for this is holy ground to every Frenchman. 

On the 25th of October, the day following his arrival, General 
Grant made a formal visit to Marshal MacMahon, the President 
of the French Republic, and was cordially received by him. He 
was accompanied by Mrs. Grant. Madame MacMahon acted as 
interpreter upon this occasion. The Marshal said he was much 
gratified to make the acquaintance of so illustrious a soldier. He 
offered to open all the French military establishments to his in- 
spection, and to furnish him means of knowing everything he 
desired concerning French military affairs. General Grant 
accepted the offer with thanks. 

The official residence of the President of the French Republic 
is the Palace of the Elysee National. It stands in the Rue du 
Faubourg St. Honore, and its gardens extend back to the Avenue 
Gabriel, just opposite the Champs Elysees. 

On the Faubourg Saint Honore side, the facade consists of a 
handsome gallery, with a gateway in the form of a triumphal 




'ZZ9^7& 



PRESIDENT MACMAHON. 



(233; 



2 34 AROUND THE WORLD. 

arch. The gallery is composed of one story and an attic, over 
which there is a terrace crowned by a light stone balustrade. At 
each end of the gallery, which encloses the court-yard, are 
entrance gates supported by handsome Corinthian pillars and 
ornamented with trophies of flags and arms. The palace is 
a light, tasteful building, situated at the bottom of the Court 
and opening on the gardens at the back. It is finished magnifi- 
cently in its internal arrangements. The gardens are moderately 
large and are laid off in the English style, with winding alleys and 
beautiful lawns. 

The Elysee was built in 1 7 1 8, by Molet, the architect, for the 
Count d'Evreux. It afterwards passed into the hands of Madame 
Pompadour, who enlarged and beautified it, and inhabited it until 
her death. She left it to her brother, the Marquis de Marigny, 
who sold it to Louis XV., by whom it was converted into a resi- 
dence for Ambassadors Extraordinary from other countries. It 
was next purchased by M. Beaujon, the famous financier, who 
made it one of the most splendid hotels in Paris. He spent many 
millions upon it, paying especial attention to the gardens. The 
First Republic made it a place for holding State balls and recep- 
tions, but under the Consulate and Empire it was repaired and 
improved, and occupied by Napoleon and his family. Murat 
lived here for a while, just previous to his departure for Naples. 
During the latter part of Napoleon's reign it was his favorite 
residence. He repaired to it after his return to Paris from Wa- 
terloo, and signed his abdication here. The room in which this 
act was performed, and the chamber in which he passed his last 
night in Paris, are preserved with religious care. The Duke of 
Wellington, and the Emperor, Alexander I., of Russia, occupied 
the palace during the time the city was held by the allied forces. 
At the restoration, Louis XVIII. gave it to the Due de Berri, but 
after his assassination, in 1820, his widow abandoned the palace, 
and in 1830 it reverted to the State. It was occupied during the 
first portion of the Revolution of 1848 by one of the numerous 
"Commissions" of the Government, and on the 20th of Decem- 
ber, in the same year, Prince Louis Bonaparte, the President of 
the Republic, took up his residence in it, and occupied it until he 




( 2 35) 



236 AROUND THE WORLD. 

went to the Tuileries, in 1852. It was here that he planned and 
carried out the Coup d'Etat which made him Master and finally 
[Emperor of France. It was in this palace that Marshal Mac- 
Mahon received General Grant. The General subsequently met 
the Marshal several times, and conceived a warm admiration for 
him, doing full justice to his straightforwardness, his singleness 
of purpose, and his unswerving desire to serve his country. 

On the 29th of October, General Noyes, the American Minis- 
ter to France, held a reception in honor of General Grant at his 
residence in the Avenue Josephine. It was a very brilliant and 
successful affair. Among the distinguished guests present were 
Ministers Decazes, De Broglie, De Fourtou, Berthaut, Caillaux 
and Brunet, the Marquis d'Abzac, First Aid-de-Camp of Presi- 
dent MacMahon ; M. Mollard, and the Prefects of the Seine and 
Police, the Duchess Decazes, Mesdames Berthaut, Voisin, Grant 
and Noyes, and Misses Lincoln and Stevens. 

The reception, which followed the banquet, w r as attended by 
President MacMahon, who wore the Grand Cordon of the Legion 
of Honor. The Marshal remained an hour. A laro;e number of 
Americans, the entire Diplomatic Corps, and the elite of French 
society were present at the reception. The rooms were 
beautifully decorated and the building was illuminated. 

On the 31st General Grant visited the Palais d'Industrie and 
the works where the Statue of Liberty for New York harbor is 
being constructed. The sculptor, M. Bartholdi, presented him 
with a miniature model of the statue. General Grant several 
times expressed his satisfaction with the work. 

In the evening the General attended the Opera, where he was 
well received by the audience, and treated with great ceremony 
by the officials. 

During his stay in Paris General Grant several times met M. 
Gambetta, the great Republican leader, and was much impressed 
with his character and abilities. 

On the 1 st of November Marshal MacMahon entertained Gen- 
eral Grant at a State dinner at the Elysee. It was attended by 
the entire Cabinet, the American Minister, and a brilliant com- 
pany of distinguished Frenchmen, and a number of ladies, in- 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 237 

eluding Mrs. Grant and Madame MacMahon. The dinner lasted 
from 7.30 to 9 o'clock p. m., when the guests returned to the 
drawino-room. The Marshal and General Grant withdrew to 
the smoking-room, where they had a long conversation, Mr. Vig- 
naud, Secretary of the Legation of the United States, acting as 
interpreter. The Marshal invited General Grant and his family 
to come to breakfast without ceremony at Versailles, and to be 
present at some of the sessions of the Senate and Chamber, 
placing the Presidential tribune at their disposal. 

On the 6th of November a dinner was erven to General Grant 
at the Grand Hotel by three hundred American residents of Paris. 

A few days after the dinner at the Grand Hotel, General Tor- 
bert entertained General Grant at his apartments ; and on the 
20th of November, Mrs. Mackey, of California, gave a superb 
reception to him at her residence near the Arch of Triumph. 

It would not be possible to relate here all the civilities ex- 
tended to General Grant during his stay in Paris. Only a few 
can be mentioned here. The Marquis Talleyrand-Perigord, a 
descendant of the great French statesman, grave a dinner to the 
General, at which over one hundred distinguished persons were 
present. At a dinner given by M. Laugal, General Grant met 
the Count of Paris. 

One of the favorite resorts of General Grant was the office of 
the New York Herald, in the Avenue de l'Opera. "This office," 
says Mr. Young, " is among the shrines of the American abroad. 
He can hear all the news. He can write his name on the regis- 
ter and know it will be cabled next morning to New York, and 
his presence in Paris spread to an envious or admiring world at 
home. He can read all about home, for here is the best reading- 
room in Europe. Whether he comes from Pennsylvania or 
Oregon, Maine or Texas, he will find his home paper, and read 
all about the church and the county fair, the latest murder, or the 
pending canvass — deaths and marriages. Perchance he will find 
some wandering" brother, and there will ensue comforting: chat 
about America, and how much cheaper it is than Paris, and what 
scoundrels these Frenchmen are, especially in the matter of 
candles. If he has any news to bestow, Mr. Ryan, who is in 



238 AROUND THE WORLD. 

charge of the office, and is one of the oldest and most distin- 
guished members of The Herald staff, will listen with an eao-er 
and discerning" ear." 

General Grant made frequent visits to places of interest in the 
vicinity of Paris. The principal of these is Versailles, not only 
because it is at present the seat of the Government of France, 
but because it was so long the residence of the French sovereigns, 
and played so important a part in the history of the country. 




BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE PALACE AND PARK OF VERSAILLES. 

Versailles itself is a dull place of about 45,000 inhabitants. 
During the residence of the Court at the Palace it attained its 
present proportions and magnificence, but since royalty deserted 
the old Chateau it has been neglected. 

The Palace and Park, which are the chief attractions, are some 
distance from the railway station. As you alight from your cab 
in the great square upon which the Palace fronts, the old pile is 
before you in all its beauty. An immense court-yard enclosed 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 239 

by an iron fence faces you. The gateway is ornamented with 
sculptures, and in the court-yard is a row of statues representing 
sixteen of the most famous heroes of France, and back of these 
is ah equestrian statue of Louis XIV. The pavilions which flank 
this court on. the right and left were built by Louis XIV. for his 
ministers. Just in front of them, without the gates, and across 
the Place d' Amies, are the old Royal stables, which once held a 
thousand horses, and now form an artillery barracks. 

The Palace stands at the bottom of the " Court of Statues," 
and is an immense raime of buildings of brick and li^ht-colored 
stone. It consists of a central building (the oldest part of the 
Palace) and two immense wings. The central edifice is built 
around three sides of a court paved with marble. The old palace, 
erected by Louis XIII., is of red brick. When Louis XIV. en- 
larged the Chateau he ordered Mansard, the architect, to pre- 
serve the old building, and the latter made it the centre of the 
present pile, and ornamented the front with marble busts sup- 
ported by brackets. This portion of the Chateau was always 
occupied by the Royal family, and the marble court was the scene 
of many historical events and interesting ceremonies. The three 
windows in the centre, on the first floor, belong to the bed- 
chamber of Louis XIV. In front is a pretty balcony, from which 
the death of the King was announced by the Master of the 
Household. This official appeared here, in the presence of the 
crowd assembled in the court below, and, breaking his staff^ pro- 
claimed, "Le Roi est mort." Then taking up a fresh staff, he 
added, "Vive le Roi." The clock which ornaments the centre of 
the building was then set at the hour of the King's death, and 
the hands remained in this position until the death of his successor 
required, them to be changed. The last time this ceremony was 
observed was at the death of Louis XVIII., in 1824; since then 
a King has never died in France. On the ground floor, just 
below the bed-chamber, is a window at which the valet of the 
Grand Monarque announced the hour at which the King intended 
to rise, and it was from the balcony above that Marie Antoinette, 
calm, brave, and almost atoning for her faults by that single act 
of heroism, faced the angry crowd below on that dread October 



24O AROUND THE WORLD. 

day. Can you imagine it, as you stand here, in this old, peaceful 
spot ? — that pale, white-haired woman exposing herself to the 
fierce, hungry crowd that filled this court and who ignorantly 
hated her as the cause of their misfortunes ! Look down at the 
marble flags ! They seem almost to have kept the prints of 
those furious footsteps, so worn and battered are they. 

But immense as the building appears from the front, you can 
form no conception of its size until you pass around to the gar- 
dens, and view it from the splendid western terrace. There you 
begin to realize its immense proportions, and you do not wonder 
that it should be the object of such pride and admiration on the 
part of the French people, for, aside from its historical memo- 
ries, it is beyond all question the grandest and most imposing of 
all the palaces of France, having a rival only in the united Louvre 
and Tuileries. The western facade is eighteen hundred feet in 
length, and the other parts of the building are admirably propor- 
tioned to this immense distance. I have been unable to ascertain 
the exact area covered by the Palace, but the reader may form 
some idea of it from the fact that merely to walk at a leisurely 
pace through that portion open to the public, will consume over 
two hours and a half. 

Of the splendors of this pile I cannot hope to present a proper 
description. It was not occupied after the removal of Louis 
XVI. to Paris until the reign of Louis Philippe. It was in great 
need of repairs, and the " Citizen King" restored it and converted 
it into a Museum of "all the glories of France." This required 
an outlay of four millions and a half of dollars, but the result has 
amply repaid the nation for the expenditure. 

The Palace at present consists of a museum, and the old 
dwelling of the kings of France. The Royal and State apart- 
ments have been left undisturbed, or rather have been restored 
to their original condition, but the winos have been filled with 
over four thousand paintings and one thousand pieces of 
sculpture. 

You enter by a side door in the Cour Royale, and find your- 
self in a large vestibule, opening on one side into a range of 
rooms lined with pictures of all sizes, illustrating the history of 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 24 1 

France from the reign of Clovis to that of Louis XVI. This is 
the ground floor of the north wing. A door on the opposite 
side* of the vestibule opens into the chapel, but you are not 
allowed to enter it, and must pass on by the prescribed route 
through the picture gallery. The pictures illustrating the same 
reign are gathered, as far as practicable, in one room, which is 
also adorned with portraits of the King and Queen, and other 
distinguished personages of the time. The pictures are all by 
modern artists, and are very fine. They occupy the entire suite 
of rooms on this floor, many of the rooms of the centre building 
and a large part of the south wing. The remainder of the 
ground-floor rooms is devoted to statuary, of which a very large 
and interesting collection has been formed. 

It would be impossible to attempt to describe the vast collec- 
tion of paintings contained in the palace. The pictures occupy 
the apartments just named, and the principal rooms of the two 
upper floors, with the exception of the State apartments. I can 
only say there are miles of them, and that they represent every 
period of the history of France. The collections of the first and 
second Empires are very full and interesting, but it is hard to 
select from amongst so much excellence. You will not grow 
weary of any portion of the Museum, for there is scarcely a 
painting but illustrates some subject which thrills you with admi- 
ration, or rouses your tenderest feelings. 

The pictures themselves are not the only attractions. Many 
of the rooms were the apartments of persons famous in history, 
and are also models of architecture and ornamentation. The 
"gallery of battles," on the first floor of the south wing, is one of 
the most beautiful halls in the building. 

After the museums, the most interesting portions of the Palace 
are the chapel, theatre, State apartments, and private apartments 
of the king and queen. The chapel was built by Louis XIV., 
and is Mansard's masterpiece as well as his last work. It is 105 
feet long and seventy-nine feet high. You are permitted to 
inspect it from the gallery, which is the best point of view. It is 
a beautiful hall, and, as it fortunately escaped injury during the 
many revolutions through which it has passed, remains nearly as 
16 



242 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Mansard left it. The king's seat was in the. north gallery, and 
he rarely went into the lower part of the church except to receive 
the sacrament. 

The Theatre, at the opposite end of the north wing, is a hand- 
some hall, capable of holding about fifteen hundred persons. It 
was begun in 1753, to please Madame de Pompadour, who was 
very fond of dramatic entertainments, but she died before its 
completion. It was inaugurated on the 16th of May, 1770, on 
the occasion of the marriage of the Dauphin (Louis XVI.) with 
the Archduchess of Austria. After this it was frequently used 
for operatic and theatrical performances. On the 1st of October, 
1789, it was the scene of the memorable banquet which was the 
signal of the downfall of royalty. Since the close of the war 
with Germany the theatre has been used for the sessions of the 
National Assembly. p 

From the upper vestibule of the chapel you pass into the 
magnificent State apartments of the old Palace. They are very 
numerous, and communicate with the private apartments of the 
king and queen. They are among the most gorgeous halls in 
the world, and are full of memories of the Grand Monarque, 
from whose reign they date. The "Grand Gallery of Louis 
XIV." is perhaps the most beautiful saloon in Europe. It is 239 
feet long, thirty-three feet wide, and twenty-nine feet high, and 
is resplendent in gildii.gs, carvings and frescoes. It was the 
great ball-room of the Palace. The Saloon of Mercury opened 
into the king's bed-chamber, and after the death of Louis XIV. 
his body was laid in state here for eight days. The royal apart- 
ments are as he left them. 

The first of the royal apartments is entered from the Grand 
Gallery. This is the Council Chamber, or, as it is often called, 
the Cabinet of the King. It was divided into two rooms during 
its occupancy by Louis XIV. One of these rooms was for the 
private use of the king, who retired into it frequently for the 
purpose of changing his wig. Here he presided over the 
council of his ministers, the king sitting at the table covered 
with green velvet, which now stands in the centre of the room. 
Louis XV. often admitted his mistresses to these deliberations, 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 243 

and, here, on one occasion, Madame Dubarry, sitting on the arm 
of his Majesty's chair, seized a packet of unopened letters from 
the table and threw them into the fire. It was in this room also 
that Louis XVI. received M. de Breze, who came to inform his 
Majesty that- the Deputies of the States General had sworn a 
solemn oath never to separate until the Constitution was firmly 
established. 

You pass from the Council Room to the Petits Apartements 
du Roi, or the Private Apartments of the King. These were the 
rooms in which his every-day life was spent. One of these, 
used as a billiard-room by Louis XIV., was afterwards the bed- 
chamber of Louis XV.. who died here of malignant small pox. 
Next to this was the ordinary sitting-room of the king. Another, 
in which you will notice a glass screen, was the Confessional, in 
which the king confessed. Behind this screen, with a drawn 
sword in his hand, stood the Captain of the Guard, whose duty 
was never to lose sight of the king. This screen was erected 
during the rei^n of Louis XVI. In this suite are the kind's 
private cabinet and his library. The rooms are handsome, but 
simple and tasteful. 

Returning to the Council Room, you pass from it into the bed- 
chamber of Louis XIV. Louis died here, on the bed that stands 
here under the magnificent hangings you see against the wall. 
Here his Majesty used to go to bed every night and rise every 
morning in the presence of the whole court. The room is beau- 
tifully frescoed, and magnificently furnished. The windows look 
out upon the Marble Court, and it was from the balcony on 
which they open that Marie Antoinette faced the mob. 

The bed-chamber opens into the Salle de l'CEil-de-Bceuf, so 
called from the oval or bull's-eye window at one end, and the 
oval mirror at the other. This was the famous ante-room in 
which the courtiers in attendance on Louis XIV. waited. It was 
the scene of many a scandalous intrigue, and of some of the most 
interesting events of that reign. It is a beautiful apartment, and 
opens upon the Salle des Gardes du Corps (Hall of the Body- 
Guard), formerly occupied by the body-guard of the king. The 
latter is a plain room, but much too handsome for a "guard- 



244 AROUND THE WORLD. 

room." Communicating with it is the Ante-Chamber du Roi, 
where Louis XIV. dined in state. 

A special order is necessary to visit the Private Apartments of 
Marie Antoinette, which communicate with the ante-chamber of 
the king, and which are also connected with the Salle de l'CEil- 
de-Bceuf by a private corridor. They are very pretty, and re- 
main very much as the unfortunate queen left them. They are 
two in number, and the windows look out into a small court. 
They were occupied first by Marie Therese, and afterwards by 
the Duchess of Burgundy, Marie Leczinska, and Marie Antoinette. 
The other rooms generally included in the Petits Apartements 
were occupied by Madame de Maintenon, and it was here, in 
her society, that Louis XIV. passed the greater part of the close 
of his life. He always wound up his day as follows: At a cer- 
tain hour Madame de Maintenon had her supper, after which she 
was undressed and put to bed in the presence of the king and 
his ministers. Louis then retired and sought his own supper. 

The State apartments of the queen are shown to the public. 
The first is the Queen's bed-room, which adjoins the splendid 
Salle de Paix. It is a handsome apartment, and contains many 
souvenirs of its last queen. Marie Therese and Marie Leczinska 
died in this room, and Philip V. of Spain and Louis XV. of France 
were born in it. It was in this chamber that Marie Antoinette 
was sleeping when the mob attacked the palace before daybreak, 
on the 6th of October, 1789. She sprang from her bed in 
alarm, and fled by a private corridor into the Salle de l'CEil-de- 
Bceuf, from which she passed into the Council Chamber and 
joined the king. 

The next room is the Queen's Saloon, where her Majesty held 
her receptions on State occasions. It was the scene of many a 
brilliant gathering in the old days of the palace. It opens into 
the Queen's Ante-Chamber, a handsome hall in which the Royal 
family dined on extraordinary occasions. 

The next room is the Salle des Gardes, and was occupied by 
the Queen's body-guard. When the crowd broke into the 
palace, on the morning of the 6th of October, 1789, they 
made their first attack here. This is the last of the State 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 



245 



apartments, and from it you pass into the picture galleries of 
the south wing. 

The Park of Versailles lies back of the Palace, and is magnifi- 
cently laid off and ornamented with statuary and fountains. The 
grounds are very extensive, are kept with great care, and con- 
stitute one of the most beautiful parks in the world. 

The autumn days passed pleasantly away, and December came. 
The pleasantest season for visiting the Mediterranean and Egypt 




HOTEL DE VILLE (CITY HALL)— PARIS. 

had now arrived, ana! General Grant determined to avail himself 
of it. Accordingly he left Paris with his party in the early part 
of December, and travelled leisurely to the south of France. 

A brief visit was made to Lyons, the principal city of southern 
France, and its principal objects of interest were examined. 
Lyons is the second city in the Republic. It is the chief seat 
of the silk trade, and the focus where the commerce of the north 
and south converges. It contains a population of 325,954 in- 
habitants, and is a fortress of the first class. 



246 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Lyons stands on both banks of the Saone and Rhone, but the 
largest part occupies the tongue of land between these two 
rivers, extending from the heights covered by the populous 
suburb of La Croix Rousse, the residence of the silk-weavers, 
down nearly to the confluence of the rivers, towards which the 
quarter of Perrache has pushed forward buildings. On the left 
bank of the Rhone are the suburbs of Les Brotteaux, now the 
handsomest part of Lyons, and of La Guillotiere, where a new 
town has rapidly risen ; — on the right bank of the Saone, the 
suburbs of Vaise, through which we enter Lyons from Paris ; of 
Fourvieres, mounting up the face of a slope so abrupt as scarcely 
to be accessible for wheeled vehicles ; of St. Irenee behind it ; 
and of St. George, lower down, near the water-side. These 
topographical details will be best understood when the traveller 
has scaled the Heights of Fourvieres, which he should do the 
first thing after his arrival, on account of the view commanded 
from it. To reach it the road passes between the Palais de 
Justice and the cathedral, ascending the steep and narrow 
streets above the latter. 

Higher up is the huge straggling hospital of l'Antiquaille, 
occupying the site of the Roman palace in which Claudius and 
Caligula were born, now assigned to the reception of 600 
patients, afflicted with madness and all sorts of incurable dis- 
eases, to the care of whom Freres Hospitaliers and Sceurs de la 
Charite devote their lives. Higher up are narrow lanes, and 
steep stone steps, partly in front of shops in which rosaries, 
medals, devotional engravings, candles, and wax models of dif- 
ferent parts of the body for suspension in the church, are dis- 
played before the eyes of penitents and pilgrims : we reach the 
Church of Notre Dame de Fourvieres, whose lofty dome is 
crowned by a colossal gilt statue of the Virgin : it is only re- 
markable for the quantity of ex-votos, paintings, etc., to the 
number of 4,000, with which its walls are covered, offered to the 
altar of the miracle-working figure of our Lady of Fourvieres, 
whose intercession is stated, by an inscription over the entrance, 
to have preserved Lyons from the cholera. From the dome of 
the church, 360 feet above the Saone, a magnificent view may be 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 247 

obtained. The city of Lyons appears unrolled as a map beneath 
one's feet, including the two noble rivers visible to their junction, 
the Saone crossed by twelve bridges, the Rhone by nine. Be- 
yond it stretch fields, plains, and hills, dotted over with country 
houses, and the distance is closed (in clear weather) by the 
snowy Alps, including the Mont Blanc, nearly ioo miles off, this 
being one of the farthest points from which it is visible. More 
to the south, the Alps of Dauphine, the mountains of the Grande 
Cartreuse, and the Mont Pilas appear. The Church of Notre 
Dame is seated on the very summit of the hill, and is said to 
occupy the site, and retain the name, of the Roman Forum Vetus, 
erected by Trajan. Numerous but inconsiderable Roman re- 
mains have been brought to light on the hill, and some arches 
of an Aqueduct, partly included in the Fort of St. Irenee. In 
the faubourg St. Irenee, behind Fourvieres, is the Church of St. 
Irenee, an uninteresting modern building, erected on the grave 
of that saint and martyr, and upon subterranean vaults, in which, 
it is said, the early Christians met for prayer, and were after- 
wards massacred, in the reign of Septimius Severus, a. d. 202. 
In the midst of this crypt, an ancient Romanesque building, rest- 
ing on columns, is a sort of well, down which the bodies of the 
Christians were thrown, until it overflowed with the blood of the 
19,000 martyrs, for such is the number reported to have fallen, 
according to the legend, and a recess is filled with their bones. 
The upper church was destroyed, and the crypt much injured, by 
the Calvinists, 1562 ; and the whole has been sadly modernized, 
much to the disparagement of historic associations. 

The Cathedral, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, on the right 
bank of the Saone, has four towers. The building dates from 
the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. It is mainly in the 
Gothic style, and is a handsome edifice. 

The city contains many handsome edifices, and many objects 
of great historical interest. 

Silk is the staple manufacture of Lyons ; in the extent of it she 
surpasses every other town of Europe. The manufacture of silk 
was first established in Lyons in the year 1450. In variety of 
design, in taste, in elegance of pattern, and in certain colors, the 



248 AROUND THE WORLD. 

manufactures have a superiority over the English. "They can 
work twenty-five per cent, cheaper; but the hand-loom weavers 
of Lyons are nearly as ill off as those of Spitalfields." There are 
no huge factories here ; the master, instead of having a certain 
number of workmen constantly employed in his own premises, 
merely buys the raw material, and gives it out to be manufactured 
by the weavers, dyers, etc., at their own houses, by themselves 
and their families. The patterns are produced by draughtsmen 
(generally a partner of the master manufacturer), and the laying 
or preparing of the pattern (mise en carte) is the province of 
another artiste. There are about 31,000 silk-looms in and about 
Lyons. The silk-weavers are, bodily and physically, an inferior 
race ; half the young men of an age for military service are ex- 
empted, owing to weakness or deformity. Of late manufactories 
of cotton, hardware, etc., have been established in Lyons; it is also 
the centre of money transactions with Switzerland and Italy. 

From Lyons General Grant and his party proceeded to Mar- 
seilles. Marseilles is the principal seaport of southern France, 
and is situated immediately upon the Gulf of Lyons. Its popu- 
lation numbers about 300,000 souls. It is a handsomely built 
city, and is regarded by many persons as next to Paris in mag- 
nificence. Its quays are superbly built, and its harbor is always 
filled with vessels from every nation of the globe, especially with 
those of the nations bordering the Mediterranean. 

" Marseilles was founded by the Phoenicians six hundred years 
before Christ, and served as their refuge from the vengeance of 
Cyrus. It soon became the entrepot of all the surrounding coun- 
tries ; founded many fine colonies ; was long celebrated for the 
cultivation of letters and arts; preserved its liberty under the 
Romans, and often acted as an independent republic ; but it has 
left but few traces of its ancient wealth and grandeur. These 
consist of a few fragments of sculpture, and a few Greek inscrip- 
tions. The harbor is the most commodious in France, and 
capable of containing 1,200 vessels. Its entrance, which admits 
only one vessel at a time, is defended by two hills, surmounted 
by the forts St. Jean and St. Nicolas, and the road is defended by 
the fortified islands Chateau d'lf, Pomegue, and Ratoneau. The 



GENERAL GRANTS VISIT TO PARIS. 249 

number of vessels that arrive and depart from Marseilles in the 
course of the year is over 25,000. The connection of Algiers to 
France has given a very great impetus to the prosperity of Mar- 
seilles, as it monopolizes nearly the whole of the trade of that 
colony. Marseilles suffered severely from the ravages of the 
plague in 1720. Over one-half of the population of the town 
was swept away. The scourge lasted the whole summer. It 
was from here St. Louis sailed with an immense fleet of galleys 
— all of which Marseilles furnished — on the crusade. Marseilles 
has been the birthplace of several very celebrated persons, among 
whom are M. Thiers, historian and ex-Premier, son of a black- 
smith, the astronomer Pytheas, the preacher Mascaron, and the 
sculptor Puget. It was united to the crown of France by Louis 
XL in 1 48 1. The public garden of Marseilles is very beautiful. 
A new Museum has been erected, containing a collection of 
about 150 paintings, among which a Perugino, Rubens, Andrea 
del Sarto, and one or two others are worthy of attention. New 
and beautiful buildings were erected on every side during the 
reign of the late Emperor, adding greatly to the attractions of 
the city. The principal churches are St. Victor and Notre Dame 
de la Garde. 

" St. Victor is the oldest church in the city, the crypts having 
been constructed as early as the eleventh century. Its two bat- 
tlemented towers, which give it somewhat the air of a fortress, 
were erected during the pontificate of Urban V., who was abbot 
of an adjoining monastery, and is believed to have been buried 
here. 

" Notre Dame de la Garde is a fine Romanesque church, situ- 
ated on the summit of a hill, to which it gives its name, and over- 
looking from its lofty position the town and harbor. Within the 
church is an image of the Virgin of great antiquity, which is held 
in the highest veneration, and to which innumerable pilgrimages 
are made by the sailors and fishermen of the Mediterranean. 
The walls and roof of the building are covered with votive offer- 
ings, among which are many models of ships and a number of 
ostrich eggs. Over the altar is a modern statue of the Virgin, 
four feet high, in silver. 



25O AROUND THE WORLD. 

" Steamers leave Marseilles daily or weekly to nearly every 
port on the Mediterranean." 

From Marseilles, General Grant and his party went to Nice. 
This delightful city was transferred to France by the king of Sar- 
dinia, after the close of the Italian War of 1859, as a part of the 
price paid for the assistance of Napoleon III. in that struggle. It 
occupies a beautiful situation directly upon the Mediterranean, 
and is protected from the north winds by a spur of the Alps 
which rises up behind it like an amphitheatre. It is consequently 
much sought by invalids. 

"The city of Nice is divided into three quarters, viz.: the Old 
Town, the Harbor, and the Quartier de la Croix. This last, in 
which are situated the principal hotels and lodgings inhabited by 
foreigners, is so called from a marble cross erected in 1538 to 
commemorate the visit of Paul III., Pope of Rome, who came to 
reconcile Francis I. of France with the Emperor Charles V. of 
Germany. Immediately opposite this stands a monument to com- 
memorate the visits of Pope Pius VII. in 1809 and 1814. Here 
are situated the Public Garden and the Promenade Anglais, 
a very beautiful promenade facing the sea, where for three hours 
every afternoon may be seen all the fashions of the world, from 
the Empress of all the Russias downward." 

After a brief rest at Nice, the General and his party proceeded 
to Villefranche, the old Villafranca. This beautiful town has 
about 3,500 inhabitants, and lies at the head of a lovely bay, about 
two miles long and a mile and a half broad, offering an anchorage 
for vessels of the largest size. It is a favorite resort of naval ves- 
sels. Here the General found the United States war steamer 
" Vandalia," which had been ordered by the American Govern- 
ment to convey him and his party to Egypt and such other places 
on the Mediterranean as he should desire to visit. He received 
a hearty welcome from the officers of the ship, and at five o'clock 
on the afternoon of December 13th, 1877, he embarked on board 
the "Vandalia," accompanied by Mrs. Grant and Jesse, and Mr. 
John Russell Young. The vessel immediately weighed anchor 
and put to sea. 




CHAPTER VI. 

THE MEDITERRANEAN VOYAGE. 

Arrival of the " Vandalia" at Naples — The City — Its Situation — The Neapolitans — Visit of the 
Authorities to General Grant — An Excursion to Mount Vesuvius — Italian Beggars — Erup- 
tions of Mount Vesuvius — The Ascent of the Mountain — View of the Bay — The Crater — 
Return to the Ship — General Grant visits Pompeii — The Guide — Ancient Pompeii — Eruption 
of Vesuvius and Destruction of the City — Excavation of Pompeii — The Ruins — A Pom- 
peiian Villa — Ancient Art — The Forum — The Theatres — The House of the Tragic Poet — 
An Official Reception at Naples — The "Vandalia" sails for Sicily — Arrival at Palermo — 
The City — A Christmas Dinner — General Grant's Aversion to Display — Departure from 
Palermo — The Straits of Messina — Mount Etna — Arrival at Malta — La Valetta — Visit of 
the Duke of Edinburgh — Hospitalities at Malta — Visits to the Governor and the Duke of 
Edinburgh — Departure from Malta — Life at Sea. 

N the 17th of December, 1877, the "Vandalia" cast anchor 
in the harbor of Naples. . The weather was cold and raw, 
and Mr. B. Odell Duncan, the American Consul, who 
came on board to welcome the General, declared they had had 
no such weather for years. In spite of the unpleasant day, how- 
ever, the General and his party landed, and made the tour of the 
city. 

Naples is situated at the head of the bay of the same name, 
and faces Mount Vesuvius. It has a population of 500,000. 
The city appears to best advantage from the bay ; once in its 
streets it does not seem so beautiful. It was founded in very 
ancient times by colonists from Greece, who named it Neapolis, 
or the New City. Long after it came under the Roman dominion 
it remained Greek in its laneuaee, manners, and customs. Under 
the Empire it was famed for its hot baths, its numerous and ex- 
cellent theatres, its beautiful scenery and mild climate, and the 
luxury and effeminacy of its inhabitants. 

"It is principally in respect to situation that this city surpasses 
most others. The streets are straight and paved with square 
blocks of lava laid in mortar, and said to resemble the old Roman 

(25O 



252 AROUND THE WORLD. 

roads. Owing to the mildness of the climate, a great deal of 
business is carried on in the open streets, and while you are walk- 
ing along you are accosted by numerous different traders. There 
is but little real magnificence in architecture ; and though many 
of the buildings are on a very grand scale, they are generally 
overloaded with ornament. The houses resemble those of Paris, 
except that they are on a larger scale. The whole of the ground 
floor of these tenement buildings is occupied by storekeepers, 
while the upper portion is the dwelling of numerous families. 

"The nobility are fond of great show and splendor. The 
females are proud, even when very poor. They never go out 
unless to ride, and bestow great pains and time upon their per- 
sonal charms to fascinate the other sex. A correct idea of their 
moral habits and manners may be obtained from the tales of 
Boccaccio and La Fontaine. The principal promenade of the 
ladies is on their own roof, which is generally adorned with shrubs 
and flowers. 

" Naples is not unprovided with fortifications, having on its 
northwest side the Castle of St. Elmo, Castello Nuovo, adjoining 
the royal palace, and the Castello dell' Ovo, on a rock which pro- 
jects into the sea. Between the Palazzo Reale and the sea are 
situated the arsenal and the cannon-foundry. St. Elmo has ex- 
tensive subterranean bomb-proof works. Naples has three 
ports : Porto Piccolo, the last remnant of the ancient port of 
Palacopolis, is now, however, only adapted for boats ; the Porto 
Grande, formed by Charles II. of Anjou in 1 302 ; Porto Militaire, 
a new harbor for ships of the royal navy commenced in 1826 by 
Francis I., and still in progress. A few modernized gates, to- 
gether with the castles above mentioned, are all that remain of 
the mediaeval fortifications. 

" Naples has three hundred churches. Some of them are re- 
markable for their architecture and works of art. They contain 
a collection of tombs which surpass those to be found in any 
other city of Italy." 

Upon returning to the " Vandalia," General Grant gave orders 
for an early start the next morning on a visit to Mount Vesuvius. 

On the morning of the 18th, the military and civil authorities 




(253) 



254 AROUND THE WORLD. 

came on board the " Vandalia " to pay their respects to General 
Grant, and thus delayed the party an hour or two beyond the 
time appointed for starting. It was not until ten o'clock that a 
start was made. The party consisted of General and Mrs. 
Grant and their companions, and several officers of the "Van- 
dalia." We quote the following account of the excursion from 
Mr. John Russell Young's letter to the New York Herald: 

" It was ten before we were under way, the General and party 
in the advance, with our courier, whom we have called the Mar- 
quis, on the box, and Mrs. Grant's maid bringing up the rear. 
We drove all the way. You will understand our route when I 
remind you that the Bay of Naples is something like a horse- 
shoe. On one side of the shoe is the city, on the other is Vesu- 
vius. Therefore to reach the mountain we have to drive around 
the upper circle of the shoe. The shores of this bay are so 
populous that our route seemed to be one continuous town. We 
only knew that we were passing the city limits when the guard 
stopped our carriage to ask if there was anything on w r hich we 
were anxious to pay duty. As there was nothing but a modest 
luncheon, we kept on, rattling through narrow, stony streets. 
Beggars kept us company, although from some cause or another 
there were not as many as we supposed. Perhaps it was the new 
government, which we are told is dealing severely with beggars ; 
or more likely it was the weather, which is very cold and seems 
to have taken all ambition out of the people. Still we were not 
without attentions, and from streets and by-roads a woman or a 
man, or sometimes a blind man led by a boy, would start up and 
follow us with appeals for money. They were starving or their 
children were starving, and lest we might not understand their 
distress, they would pat their mouths or breasts to show how 
empty they were. For starving persons they showed great cour- 
age and endurance in following our carriage. The General had 
an assortment of coins, and, although warned in the most judi- 
cious manner against encouraging pauperism, he did encourage it, 
and with so much success that before he was halfway up the 
mountain he was a pauper himself to the extent of borrowing 
pennies from some of his companions to keep up the demands 
upon his generosity. 



THE MEDITERRANEAN VOYAGE. 255 

"What we observed in this long ride around the horseshoe 
was that Naples was a very dirty, a very happy, and a very pic- 
turesque town. We learned that the supply of rags was inex- 
haustible. I never knew what could be done with rags until I 
saw these lazzaroni. They seem to have grown rags, as a sheep 
grows his fleece, and yet there was no misery in their faces. 
Happy, dirty, idle, light-eyed, skipping, sunny — you looked in 
vain for those faces, those terrible faces of misery and woe, which 
one sees so often in London. I take it, therefore, that begging 
is an amusement, an industry, and not a necessity — that the 
Naples beggar goes out to his work like any other laborer. He 
is not driven to it by the gaunt wolves, hunger and disease. One 
scamp — a gray-bearded scamp, too — who followed us, was a 
baker, who made and sold loaves. He was standing at his 
counter trading- when our carriage hove in sight. At once he 
threw down his loaves and started after us in full chase, moaning 
and showing his tongue and beating his breast, and telling us he 
was starving. Well, when he received his coin he went to his 
store, and I presume began to haggle over his bread. That coin 
was clear gain. He was not a beggar, but a speculator. He 
went into the street and made a little raise, just as brokers and 
merchants at home go into the 'street' and try an adventure in 
stocks. The Neapolitan speculator was a wiser man than his 
New York brother. He ran no risk. Even if he did not gain 
his coin the run did him good, and his zeal gave him the repu- 
tation of an active business man. I learned also on this trip to 
repress my appetite for macaroni. We saw macaroni in all 
forms and under all circumstances, dangling in the wind catching 
the dust. Give me a dish with the most suspicious antecedents 
rather than this macaroni from Naples. 

" In the meantime our horses begin to moderate their pace and 
the streets to show an angle, and horsemen surround our car- 
riage and tell us in a variety of tongues that they are guides, 
and, if we require it, will go to the summit. Women come to 
cabin doors, and hold up bottles of white wine — the wine called 
Lachrymae Christi, by some horrible irreverence — and ask us to 
stop and drink. And already the houses begin to thin, and we 



256 AROUND THE WORLD. 

have fields around us and glimpses of the sea ; and although the 
lazy volcano, with its puffs of smoke, looks as far distant as when 
we were on the deck of the ' Vandalia ' miles away, we know 
that the ascent has begun, and that we are really climbing the 
sides of Vesuvius. 

"While we are making this slow ascent let me recall some 
facts about Vesuvius, which are the results of recent reading — 
reading made with a view to this journey. In the times of fable 
these lava hills were said to have been the scene of a battle be- 
tween the giants and the gods, in which Hercules took part. 
Here was the lake Avernus, whose exhalations were so fatal that 
the birds would not fly over its surface. Here, also, was the prison 
house of Typhon, although some critics assign him to Etna. But 
Etna, Vesuvius, and Stromboli are a trinity of volcanoes, evi- 
dently outlets to the one sea of fire, and any one would do for 
the prison house of a god. It was here that Ulysses came, as 
you will find in the eleventh book of the Odyssey. Three cen- 
turies before the Christian era a great battle was fought at Vesu- 
vius between the Romans and the Latins, the battle in which 
Decius lost his life. It was on Vesuvius that Spartacus encamped 
with his army of gladiators and bondsmen, in his magnificent but 
unavailing blow for freedom. Just now there are two cones or 
craters — one passive, the other active. We read in Dion Cassius 
of an eruption which does not speak of the present crater. The 
great eruptions are placed in the years 79, 203, 472, 512, 685, and 
993. The eruption in 472 seems to have been the severest 
known since the shower of ashes that destroyed Pompeii. In the 
early eruptions there was nothing but ashes and stones. The 
first mention of lava was in 572. Sometimes the volcano has 
done nothing but smoke for a century or two. About three cen- 
turies ago a new peak, 440 feet in height, was formed in twenty- 
four hours, and there it is now before us as Monte Nuovo. 
There was no eruption, however, and the hill is as placid as one 
of your Orange hills in New Jersey. In the last century there 
was a good deal of movement, as we have, from the pen of Sir 
William Hamilton, the British Minister at Naples, accounts of 
eruptions in 1776, 1777, and I 779- 



THE MEDITERRANEAN VOYAGE. 257 

"There was another eruption in 1793, which Dr. Clarke de- 
scribed — volleys of immense stones. The doctor went as near 
the crater as possible, and was nearly suffocated by the fumes 
of sulphur. The lava poured down the sides in a slow, glowing, 
densely flowing stream. Thousands of stones were in the air. 
The clouds over the crater were as white as the purest snow. 
In a week the lava stopped, and columns of light red flame, 
beautiful to the view, illuminated the top. Millions of red-hot 
stones were thrown into the air, and after this came explosions 
and earthquakes, shocks louder than cannon, terrible thunder, 
with a 'noise like the trampling of horses' feet.' The next erup- 
tion was in 1822, when the crater fell, reducing the mountain's 
height about eight hundred feet. Since 1822 there have been 
several eruptions, the most important happening in 1861. Vesu- 
vius is now a double mountain upon an extended base from 
thirty to forty miles in circumference, not more than one-third 
the base of Etna. Its height varies. In 1868 it was 4,255 feet; 
but since 1872 it has slightly diminished. Stromboli is 3,022 
feet, but, although in constant motion, the stones nearly all fall 
back into the crater. Etna is 10,870 feet in height, but slopes so 
gradually and has so broad a base that it looks more like a table- 
land than a mountain. I did not see Stromboli, for although we 
sailed near it the mist and rain hid it from view. I have seen 
Etna, however, and think it far less imposing and picturesque 
than Vesuvius. 

"In the meantime we are going up steadily. The horses go 
slower and slower. Some of us get out and help them by walk- 
ing part of the way and taking short cuts. The few houses 
that we see on the roadside have evidently been built with a 
view to eruptions, for the roofs are made of heavy stone and 
cement. General Grant notes that where the lava and stones 
have been allowed to rest and to mingle with the soil good 
crops spring up, and here and there we note a nourishing bit of 
vineyard. Soon, however, vineyards disappear, and after the 
vineyards the houses, except an occasional house of shelter, into 
which we are all invited to enter and drink of the Tears of Christ. 
Our convoy of horsemen, who have been following us for a mile 
17 



258 AROUND THE WORLD. 

or two, begin to drop off. The Marquis has been preaching to 
them from the box in various languages upon their folly in 
wasting time, and they heed his warnings. There are no beggars. 
It is remarked that beggars always prefer a dead level. One 
bright-eyed boy keeps at our side, a lad with about as dirty a 
suit of clothes and as pretty a pair of eyes as you could see even 
in squalid, smiling Naples. Well, there is something in the eyes, 
or it may be in the boyishness of their possessor, which quite 
wins one of the party, for when the Marquis insists that he shall 
join his fellow-mendicants in the valley below, a gracious protec- 
tion is thrown over him, and he follows us up the road. I think 
the patronage must have pleased him, for he gathered a handful 
of wild flowers and presented them, and refused a coin which was 
offered in return; but the refusal of this coin did not prevent his 
acceptance of two or three others, and a good dinner included, 
an hour or two later in the day. 

"Still we climb the hill, going steadily up. Those of us who 
thought we could make the way on foot repent, for the way is 
steep and the road is hard. All around us is an ocean of chaos 
and death. There, in all forms and shapes, lie the lava streams 
that did their work in other days, black and cold and forbidding. 
You can trace the path of each eruption as distinctly as the wind- 
ings of the stream from the mountain top. We are now high up' 
on the mountain, and beneath us is the valley and the Bay of 
Naples, with Ischia and Capri, and on the other horizon a range 
of mountains tinged and tipped with snow. In one direction we 
see the eruption of 1872; the black lava stream bordered with 
green. What forms and shapes! what fantastic, horrible shapes 
the fire assumed in the hours of its triumph! I can well see how 
Martial and Virgil and the early poets saw in these phenomena 
the strife and ancrer of the gods. Virgil describes Enceladus 
transfixed by Jove and the mountain thrown upon him, which 
shakes and trembles whenever he turns his weary sides. This 
is the scene, the very scene of his immortal agony. There are 
no two forms alike; all is black, cold, and pitiless. If we could 
only see one living thing in this mass of destruction; but all is 
death, all desolation. Here and there, where the rains have 



THE MEDITERRANEAN VOYAGE. 259 

washed the clay, and the birds, perhaps, may have carried seed, 
the grass begins to grow; but the whole scene is desolation. I 
thought of the earlier ages, when the earth was black and void, 
and fancied' that it was just such an earth as this when Divinity 
looked upon it and said, 'Let there be light.' I thought of the 
end of all things, of our earth, our fair, sweet and blooming earth, 
again a mass of lava, rock and ashes, all life gone out of it, 
rolling through space. 

"Tne presence of a phenomenon like this, and right above us 
the ever-seethino- crater, is in itself a solemn and beautiful sioht. 
We all felt repaid with our journey; for by this time we had 
come to the journey's end, and our musings upon eternity and 
chaos did not forbid thoughts of luncheon. For the wind was 
cold and we were hungry. So when our illustrious captain inti- 
mated that we might seek a place of refuge and entertainment, 
a light gleamed in the eyes of the Marquis, and he reined us up 
at a hostelry called the Hermitage. This is the last resting- 
place before we reach the ascent of the crater. Here the roads 
stop, and the remainder of the journey must be made on foot. 
Just beyond the Hermitage is a Government institution known 
as the Observatory, a point where information for weather re- 
ports is gained. We thought when we came into these upper 
regions that we were in an atmosphere too pure for the beggars. 
We were congratulating ourselves upon this circumstance coming 
up the mountain side, but on descending we had a beggar or 
two to await us. I suppose they belonged to the hostelry, and 
were simply speculating upon us like our friend the baker, whom 
we had left haggling over his loaves far down in Naples. Some 
of us, the General certainly, had come this distance meaning to 
climb the crater. But it was very cold, and we had delayed our 
departure from the ship, so that the day was well on. So, in- 
stead of climbing the rocks and looking into a sulphurous crater, 
we organized a kind of picnic in the Hermitage. The house 
seemed to have been an inquisition or a dungeon — the rooms 
were so large, the walls were so thick, there were such mysteri- 
ous, narrow passages and chambers. But people who build 
houses under the rim of Vesuvius must build for fire and flame, 



260 AROUND THE WORLD. 

and showers of ashes and stones, and the Hermitage could stand 
a severe eruption before it became untenable. A slight crackling 
fire of twigs was made on the hearth, and a brazier of burning 
coals was brought into the room. We were some time in com- 
prehending the brazier, but when its uses became apparent, it 
was comforting enough. There, in quite a primitive fashion, we 
had our luncheon, helping ourselves and each other in good 
homely American fashion, for we were as far from the amenities 
of civilization as though we were in Montana. Then after lun- 
cheon we walked about, looking at the crater, where fumes were 
quite apparent — at the world of desolation around us, some of it 
centuries old, but as fresh and terrible as when it burst from the 
world of fire beneath us. But there was still another picture — 
one of sublime and marvellous beauty. There beneath us, in the 
clear, sunny air — there was Naples, queen among cities, and her 
villages clustering about her. Beautiful, wondrously beautiful, that 
panorama of hill and field and sea, that rolled before us thousands 
of feet below! We could count twenty villages in the plain, their 
white roofs massed together and spangling the green plain like 
gems. There^were Capri and Ischia — their rugged outlines soft- 
ened by the purple-golden glow of the passing day — lying at the 
mouth of the bay, as if to guard this rich valley. There was Naples, 
her rags and dirt quite veiled, and only her beauty to be seen. 
There was Misenum, where Pliny saw the destruction of Pompeii. 
There was Nisita, where Brutus took refuge when he fled from 
the murder of Caesar. There was Sorrento, where Tasso lived. 
Every village has its history and associations, for these plains and 
islands and promontories have been for ages the seats of a bril- 
liant and glorious civilization — a civilization which even now only 
shows the beauty of decay. The splendor of a Roman imperial 
civilization has gone from Italy. Ages of darkness and super- 
stition and despotism have rested upon her like the ashes which 
cover Pompeii. Let us hope that a new era is coming, which, 
based upon freedom and patriotism, will far excel even that of 
the Caesars. These were our thoughts as we stood in the cold 
winds studying the magnificent scene. And thinking of the 
living, we thought of the dead — of the cities of the plains which 



THE MEDITERRANEAN VOYAGE. 26l 

perished one thousand seven hundred years ago. The romance 
that surrounds Naples only deepens the tragedy of Pompeii and 
Herculaneum, and we found our thoughts ever turning from the 
glory and majesty of all we saw to those buried cities of the 
plains, as we were hurried home again — home to our graceful 
vessel whose lisfhts awaited us in the harbor." 

On the 1 9th of December, General and Mrs. Grant, accompanied 
by Jesse Grant, Mr. John Russell Young, Mr. B. Odell Duncan, Cap- 
tain Robeson, of the "Vandalia," Lieutenants Strong, Rush, and 
Miller, and Engineer Baird, visited the ruined city of Pompeii. Mr. 
Young, in a letter to the New Yoj'k Herald, thus describes the visit: 

"We arrived at Pompeii early in the morning considering that 
we had to ride fourteen or fifteen miles ; but the morning was 
cold enough to be grateful to our northern habits, and there was 
sunshine. Our coming had been expected, and we were wel- 
comed by a handsome young guide, who talked a form of Eng- 
lish in a rather high key, as though we were a little hard of 
hearing. This guide informed us that he had waited on Gen- 
eral Sheridan when he visited Pompeii. He was a soldier, and 
we learned that the guides are all soldiers, who receive duty here 
as a reward for meritorious service. There was some comfort in 
seeing Pompeii accompanied by a soldier, and a brave one. This 
especial guide was intelligent, bright, and well up in all concern- 
ing Pompeii. We entered the town at once through a gate 
leading through an embankment. Although Pompeii, so far as 
excavated, is as open to the air as New York, it is surrounded 
by an earthen mound resembling some of our railway embank- 
ments in America. Looking at it from the outside you might 
imagine it an embankment, and expect to see a train of cars 
whirling along the surface. It is only when you pass up a stone- 
paved slope a few paces that the truth comes upon you, and you 
see that you are in the City of Death. You see before you a 
long, narrow street running into other narrow streets. You see 
quaint, curious houses in ruins. You see fragments, statues, 
mounds, walls. You see curiously painted walls. You see 
where men and women lived and how they lived — all silent 
and all dead — and there comes over you that appalling story 



262 AROUND THE WORLD. 

which has fascinated so many generations of men — the story 
of the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum. 

" You will say, ' Yes, every schoolboy knows that story ; ' and 
I suppose it is known in schoolboy fashion. It will complete my 
chronicle of General Grant's visit if you will allow me to tell it 
over again. In the grand days of Rome, Pompeii was a walled 
city numbering about twenty thousand inhabitants. It was built 
on the sea-coast, and was protected from the sea by a wall. I 
should say in extent it was about as large as the lower section 
of New York, drawing a line across the island from river to river 
through the City Hall. It was an irregular five-sided town, with 
narrow streets. Its inhabitants were, as a general thing, in good 
standing, because they came here to spend their summers. I 
suppose they had about the same standing in Roman society as 
the inhabitants of Newport have in American society. Pompeii 
was an American Newport, a city of recreation and pleasure. 
It is said the town was founded by Hercules, but that fact you 
must verify for yourself. It was the summer capital of luxurious 
Campania, and joined Hannibal in his war against Rome. Han- 
nibal proposed a kind of Southern Confederacy arrangement, 
with Capua as capital. After Hannibal had been defeated Capua 
was destroyed and Pompeii spared — spared in the end for a fate 
more terrible. Cicero lived near Pompeii, and emperors came 
here for their recreation. In the year 13 the city had an omen 
of its fate by an earthquake, which damaged the town seriously, 
throwing down statues, swallowing up sheep — so appalling ' that 
many people lost their wits.' In 64, when Nero was in Naples 
singing, there was another earthquake, which threw down the 
building in which his majesty had been entertaining his friends. 
This was the second warning. The end came on the 24th of 
August, 79, and we know all the facts from the letters written by 
Pliny the Younger to Tacitus — letters which had a mournful 
interest to the writer, because they told him that Pliny the Elder 
lost his life in the general desolation. Pliny tells how he was 
with his uncle, who commanded the Roman fleet at Misenum. 
Misenum is just across the bay from Pompeii — twenty miles, per- 
haps, as the crow flies. On the 24th of August, Pliny the Elder 



THE MEDITERRANEAN VOYAGE. 263 

was taking- the benefit of the sun — that is to say, he had anointed 
his person and walked naked, as was the daily custom of all 
prudent Romans. He had taken his sun-bath and retired to his 
library, when he noticed something odd about Vesuvius. The 
cloud assumed the form of a gigantic pine tree and shot into the 
air to a prodigious height. Pliny ordered his galley to be manned, 
and sailed across the bay direct for Vesuvius, over the bay where 
you may now see fishing boats and steamers. 

"A letter from some friends whose villas were at the base of 
the mountain warned him that there was danger; but like a Ro- 
man and a sailor he sailed to their rescue. As he drew near the 
mountain the air was filled with cinders. Burning rocks and 
pumice-stones fell upon his decks, the sea retreated from the 
land, and rocks of great size rolled down the mountain. His 
pilot begged him to return to Misenum and not brave the anger 
of the gods. ' Fortune,' he said, ' favors the brave — carry me 
to Pomponianus.' Pomponianus was what we now call Castel- 
lamare, a little fort from which the fish come. Here the eruption 
fell upon him. The houses shook from side to side, the day was 
darker than the darkest night. The people were in the fields 
with pillows on their heads, carrying torches. The fumes of 
sulphur prostrated Pliny and he fell dead. The scene of the 
actual destruction can be told in no better words than those of 
the younger Pliny, who watched the scene from Misenum. Re- 
member it was twenty miles away, and you can fancy what it 
must have been in Pompeii. 'I turned my head,' writes Pliny, 
'and observed behind us a thick smoke, which came rolling after 
us like a torrent. I proposed, while we had yet any light, to turn 
out into the high road, lest we should be pressed to death in the 
dash of the crowd that followed us. We had scarcely stepped 
out of the path when darkness overspread us, not like that of a 
cloudy night, or when there is no moon, but of a room when it 
is shut up and all the lights are extinct. Nothing then was to 
be heard but the shrieks of women, the screams of children and 
the cries of men ; some calling for their children, others for their 
parents, others for their husbands, and only distinguishing each 
other by their voices ; one lamenting his own fate, another that 



264 AROUND THE WORLD. 

of his family ; some wishing to die from the very fear of dying-, 
some lifting their hands to the gods ; but the greater imagining 
that the last and eternal night had come which was to destroy 
the world and the gods together. Among these were some who 
augmented the real terrors by imaginary ones, and made the 
affrighted multitude falsely believe that Misenum was actually in 
flames. At length a glimmering light appeared which we im- 
agined to be rather the forerunner of an approaching burst of 
flame, as in truth it was, than the return of day. However, the 
fire fell at a distance from us. Then again we were immersed in 
thick darkness, and a heavy shower of ashes rained upon us, 
which we were obliged every now and then to shake off, other- 
wise we should have been crushed and buried in the heap. At 
last this dreadful darkness was dissipated by degrees, like a cloud 
of smoke, the real day returned, and even the sun appeared, 
though very faintly and as when an eclipse is coming on. Every 
object that presented itself to our eyes, which were extremely 
weakened, seemed changed, being covered over with white ashes 
as with a deep snow.' 

" This was in the latter part of August, 79, and Pompeii slept in 
peace for more than sixteen hundred years. Ashes twenty feet 
deep covered the town, and it is believed about ten thousand per- 
sons perished. In 1748 the first excavations were made by the 
Bourbon Charles III. The villa of Diomedes was opened in 1771. 
It was in this villa that a group of eighteen skeletons was found. 
It was not until 1806, when the French took Naples, that the work 
was pursued with any intelligence. About one-third of the town 
has already been opened, and the excavation goes on under 
judicious superintendence. 

" Our first visit was to the museum, a carefully arranged col- 
lection. Here you may see windows and doors as they came 
from the ruins. There are also casts of eight human bodies, the 
faces and forms expressing the agony of the last moment. One 
is that of a finely formed woman, her brow resting upon her arm, 
lying in an easy attitude of repose. Some had their clothing on, 
others scarcely a vestige of clothing. Some were in attitudes of 
despair and combat, as though they would resent Death when he 



THE MEDITERRANEAN VOYAGE. 265 

came. There were skeletons of animals and skulls. There were 
vases as they came from the opened chambers, rainspouts in terra- 
cotta, helmets,' bucklers, and swords that belonged to the gladia- 
tors. There was bread as found in the oven, and a dish in which 
the meat was roasting. There was a pot in which were the rem- 
nants of a sucking pig, the skeleton of the pig clearly traceable. 
There were barley and olives and various kinds of food. Al- 
monds, pears and figs, pouches of coin, sandals, garments, rings 
and trinkets, amulets that were to keep off the evil eye. All was 
here arranged as found in the ashes of the buried city. And all 
was so real — so horribly real— I cannot express the impression 
which came over us as we passed from the gate into the very 
streets of the buried town — the very streets of this bright, gay,, 
luxurious town. We could not realize the solemnity of Pompeii. 
It seemed so natural that we should come here — so natural that 
we should be at home, so natural that this should be a living and 
not a town that had been buried and risen again — that our visit 
seems a day's holiday in a charming country town, and not a 
mournful march through a town of ashes and death. 

" rrere, for instance, is the home of our friend, M. Arrius Dio- 
medes. Our friend is a patrician, a great man in Rome, who 
came to his villa by the sea for summer air and repose after the 
cares of the capital. I am certain that he would receive us with 
true Roman courtesy did he know of our arriving. But he has 
vanished into the night, and all we have is the gracious word 
'■Salve', in mosaic, on the door-sill. Here it is in indelible mo- 
saic — curiously worked, is it not? You push the ashes away with 
your foot, for somehow our patrician friend is not as well served 
with all of his slaves. You push the ashes aside and read the 
warm word of welcome, its white stones smiling as though they 
would anticipate the greeting of the master. So, encouraged, we 
trace our way into this suburban villa. The street through which 
we have just passed is the Street of the Tombs, but let us draw- 
no inhospitable omen from that, for our Roman friends are stoics 
and find no terror in death. There is much dust and ashes, and 
roofs that might be mended, and the villa of M. Arrius Diomedes 
has changed somewhat since his retreating footstens nressed for 



266 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the last time the welcoming word on his door-sill. We can ex- 
amine this house at our leisure, if we are curious to see how our 
noble friends lived in the golden days when Caesars reigned. 
You note that there is a slight ascent to the house, the doorway 
being as much as six or seven feet above the roadway. Well, 
this is as should become a patrician, and a man like Diomedes 
does not choose to live under the staring gaze of gladiators and 
tragic poets, and the riffraff of people who flock about Pompeii. 
You go up to the porch by an inclined plane, and pass through 
the peristyle into an open court-yard, where the rain was 
gathered. On one side the descending staircases point the way 
to the rooms devoted to the humbler offices of this princely 
house. Around us are rooms, say twenty in all, which open on 
the court-yard. In one corner are the rooms for bathing, for our 
host belongs to a race who do honor to the gods by honoring the 
body which the gods gave them. 

" Here are cooling chambers, warm chambers, an anointing 
room, a furnace. If you do not care to go through the process 
of a bath, you may anoint yourself and walk in the sun. Here 
is a chamber fitted for the purpose — a gallery lighted by windows 
looking out upon the trellises, where I am sure the, roses would 
be creeping in luxuriant bloom were our friend only here to look 
after his home. The roses have faded, but if ycu pass into a 
small room to the right you will see why this gallery was built. 
Out of that window — which unfortunately is wanting in glass — 
out of that window, through which you may gaze while your 
slave anoints your person and perfumes your tresses, you may see 
beyond the gardens the whole sweeping Bay of Naples as far as 
Sorrento. After you have enjoyed your bath, and care to dis- 
cipline your body further, here is another room, upon which the 
sun beats with undisputed power, a room given to in-door games 
and amusements. Here is the eating-room, commanding a view 
of a garden, and here is a room which was once the library — a 
library of papyrus volumes—where we can fancy our friend 
studying the sciences with Pliny, or verifying a quotation with 
Cicero. The papyrus rolls are not here, to be sure, although 
some of them are up in the Naples Museum, and since we have 



THE MEDITERRANEAN VOYAGE. 267 

this modern fashion of printing we shall not envy M. Diomedes 
his few cherished scrolls. And if you ask for the ladies, you are 
pointed to the staircase leading to the gymnasium, or the door 
leading to the venerium, where I am afraid we should not under 
ordinary circumstances be welcome. You see our friend has ex- 
clusive notions about the ladies, and prefers to dispense his own 
hospitalities. Beyond these rooms is a garden, a garden enclosed 
by walls, and over the walls should be a trellis of flowers. Under 
the walls is a portico, where M. Diomedes and his friends can 
walk when it rains. Here should be a fountain, rather here is 
the fountain, but the waters somehow have ceased to flow. But 
you may put your fingers into the very spout and admire the 
grain of the marble, for the work came from the hands of cunning 
workmen. If you open this door — alas ! I am afraid it is open, 
with no prospect of its being closed — if you open this gate you 
will find that it is the rear of the villa and looks out upon the vine- 
yards, the gardens and the sea. This garden should be full of 
mulberries and figs, and if the gardening slaves were diligent, we 
should now be walking, not in ashes, but under a shady wall of 
vines, and breathing the perfume of the violet and the rose. 

"You will observe, if time is not pressing, that our friend was 
fond of the arts, and that the walls of these rooms are decorated 
with care. This is none of your whitewashing — none of your 
French paper and modern English decorations, all running to 
pale green and gray. Our noble host lived in the land of 
sunshine, and drew his colors from the rainbow. To be sure, 
the colors do look fresh — so fresh as to make you wonder if they 
are already dry. But time will give them the Titian and Rem- 
brandt tint ; time will mellow them, if we only wait long enough. 
When a Roman nobleman builds a home like this, a home pos- 
sessing all that taste, and luxury, and wealth can wish — if, I say, 
a Roman patrician like Marcus Arrius Diomedes plants all these, 
gardens and constructs so luxurious a home, you must not be im- 
patient at the glowing colors. Perhaps, if you are an artist, you 
will note the poverty of his invention in the matter of colors- 
red, blue, green, yellow, and black. These are all that seem to 
have occurred to his craftsmen. And you will object to many of 



268 AROUND THE WORLD. 

his pagan themes. But do not forget, I pray you, that our friend 
is a pagan, and that you will find in this home, and the homes of 
his neighbors and kinsmen, many things to offend a taste edu- 
cated up to the moral standard of Boston and New York. But, 
happily, we are neither missionaries nor critics, but friends — 
friends from far America — who have heard much of Pompeii, and 
have come to call upon this opulent citizen. See with what 
minute care this house is decorated. The floors are of mosaic — 
white stones on a black ground, or black stones on a white 
ground, describing plain geometrical lines and curves. If you 
study closely this mosaic work you will find it of marble (black and 
white) and red tiles, buried in mortar. If you pass on you will 
see even finer work. 

" Here, for instance, is a group of dancers and musicians, masked 
figures, playing upon the tambourine, the cymbals, and the pipe. 
What skill, what patience in the fashioning, in the folding drapery, 
the movement of the limbs, harmony of motion! You note that 
the walls are all painted ; and if you do not like the glaring colors 
in some rooms, pause for a moment before this figure, a female 
form floating into space. The lips are open in the ecstasy of 
motion, the limbs are poised in the air, and the .light drapery, 
through which the sun shines, seems to toy with the breeze; 
the bosom almost heaves with life and youth. It means nothing, 
you say. You miss the sweetness of the later schools ; you see 
nothing of the divine, seraphic beauty which lives in the Madon- 
nas of Raphael ; you miss the high teachings of our modern art 
— the mother's love in the Virgin's face, the love that embraceth 
all things in the face of the suffering Redeemer. You miss this, 
and long for that magic pencil which told, as in a poem or an 
opera, of the splendors of ancient and modern Rome. You say 
that our friend knew only of fauns and satyrs and beastly repre- 
sentations of lecherous old Silenus and that drunken brute Bac- 
chus ; that even his Venus was a degradation rather than an 
idealization of woman ; that his art was physical, and became an 
apotheosis of strength and vice and passion. You ask what pos- 
sible use, either as entertainment or study, can there be in a 
bearded Bacchus, or in many other things that I am not per- 



THE MEDITERRANEAN VOYAGE. 269 

mitted to describe ? This art is not our art, and as we study it 
and admire much of its taste and skill and truth to nature, we 
cannot but feel, and with grateful hearts, that the Pompeiian age 
is dead, and that we come in a new age ; that the gods whom our 
friend worshipped have faded into night, and that a nobler, higher 
faith has taken their place, giving purity to our art. This we 
owe to the work done by Jesus Christ. And if you marvel that 
our friend Marcus Arrius Diomedes did not feel the same in- 
fluence, remember that our friend is a Roman, a patrician, and a 
man of great wealth and station, and not a man to shape his 
tastes after the canons of a Jewish carpenter, crucified just sev- 
enty-nine years ago, and of Jewish fishermen who followed him, 
and have been meetly punished for their follies and crimes. 

" But our friend Diomedes does not come, and I am afraid 
there is no use in waiting. Pompeii is a most interesting town, 
and there are a thousand other things to be seen — the Forum, 
for instance, the amphitheatre, the temples of Jupiter and Venus, 
the Exchange, the tombs. How real it all seems ! Here are the 
narrow streets, with stepping stones to keep us out of the run- 
ning water as we cross. Here is the wide street, the Broadway 
of the town, and you can see the chariot ruts worn deep into the 
stone. The General notes that some of the streets are out of 
repair, and it is suggested that Tweed was not the first magistrate 
who failed to pave the roads. Here are the shops on the high- 
way, shops in which you may buy and sell to your heart's content, 
if we can only believe the signs on the walls. One irritable mer- 
chant (I suppose he has amassed a large fortune and retired from 
business) informs the public that there must be no lounging about 
his shop, and that if people do not mean business they had better 
go elsewhere. If you think my translation is a free one, I will 
give you the exact inscription: ' Otio sis locus hie non est, discede 
morator' — 'Loiterer, pass on; this is no place for idlers.' Pass- 
ers-by are warned against committing trespass by two large ser- 
pents painted on the walls ; and if we are disposed to seek other 
entertainment in Pompeii, not having found M. Diomedes at 
home, here is a tavern, the Elephant Snake Inn I suppose it 
should be called, having as its sign an elephant in the folds of a 



27O AROUND THE WORLD. 

serpent. The sign also informs us that within may be found a 
triclinium or dining-room, 'with three beds and other conven- 
iences.' Politics seem to be running high in this luxurious town. 
Here is an advertisement in which Philippus beseeches favor and 
patronage that he may be made a duumvir of justice. Some- 
times these inscriptions take the form of compliment and adula- 
tion. The candidate, instead of beseeching suffrage of the 
unterrified, the high-minded people, seeks the aid of some high- 
placed citizen, just as a century or two ago our tragic poets and 
comedians used to address their wishes to some mighty duke or 
most ducal lord and king. You note that in spite of the pagan- 
ism, and other things in which we have improved, there was a 
great deal of human nature — of Massachusetts and Brooklyn 
human nature — in these Pompeiians. In those days people wrote 
on the walls, as home idiots do now, their names and inscriptions, 
verses from a poem, jibes from a comedy. Here is an advertise- 
ment setting forth that Julia Felix, daughter of Spurius, has to 
let a bath, a venerium, nine hundred shops with booths and gar- 
rets, for a term of five years from the 6th of August. Mme. 
Julia wishes likewise tenants with references, as she has no desire 
to deal with immoral persons. Another scribe named Issus seeks 
the patronage of the sedile as one ' most deserving.' We note 
as we go on that this was a city of fountains, and that supersti- 
tion was rife, there being on nearly every house some engraved 
charm to protect the inhabitants from the evil eye. I wish these 
charms were all as innocent and proper in their character as aur 
dear old homely horseshoe, which has protected so many genera- 
tions from the perils of witchcraft. 

"The sun is shining as we pass from the narrow streets and 
come upon the Forum. The heart leaps as we look upon this 
scene of the elegance and the strife and the patriotism of twenty 
centuries ago. The sun shines upon many a broken column, 
upon entablatures falling into decay, upon plinths and molds that 
retain only a faint semblance of their former beauty. I have seen 
a picture called ' Pompeii Restored,' with special reference to the 
Forum. I see an oblong space like that in the court-yard of the 
Louvre. This space is surrounded by columns forming an 



THE MEDITERRANEAN VOYAGE. 27 1 

arcade, and galleries above the arcade. On one side was the 
temple of Mercury, on the other the Pantheon. This space is 
five hundred and twenty-four feet long and one hundred and fifty 
feet wide. On the other side is the temple of Jupiter and the 
temple of Venus. The temple of Jupiter borders on a road 
spanned by triumphal arches— one to the immortal glory of Nero, 
that great emperor who one day rode in triumph down the very 
road over which we are sauntering this morning in the wake of a 
nimble and loud-talking guide, 

"This Temple of Jupiter is the home of the presiding deities 
of Pompeii, if any of us choose to go in and worship. But I am 
afraid we are more interested in the prison where the skeletons 
of the prisoners were found, the shackles still confining them. 
Here is the Pantheon, or what we are at liberty to call a Pan- 
theon until the men of science really determine whether it is so 
or not, or, as is supposed, a temple of Vesta. I am afraid it 
makes very little difference now what it is, as it is incontinently 
a ruin. Another building about which there is doubt is called 
the Senaculum, where the senators met. These various temples 
were decorated with a profusion which I have not space to cata- 
logue. Statues, endless statues, and busts, paintings, sacred 
utensils, altars, and columns — what a world of wealth and labor 
was expended upon the worship of these pagan gods ! What a 
strange religion it must have been! Here are dancing figures, 
battles with crocodiles, devotees performing sacrifice to Priapus. 
Here, more apt than the others to-day at least, is Penelope dis- 
covering Ulysses. In the room of one of the priests of the Temple 
of Venus was a painting of Bacchus and Silenus, which must have 
inspired a frail kind of devotion. Around the Forum are pedes- 
tals on which were exalted in their day the statues of the men 
and the gods Pompeii delighted to honor. If we marvel at the 
extreme expense lavished on the Forum, especially as compared 
with the other parts of the town, we must remember that in these 
ancient days the Forum was where the Roman citizen passed 
most of his time. He spent his days at the baths, the theatre, 
and the Forum, and, as a consequence, whenever you find any 
remains of the old Rome, you find that the bath, the theatre, and 
the Forum were the centres of display. 



2^1 AROUND THE WORLD. 

"We might spend more time with the temples, but I am afraid 
the religion of Pompeii is not severe enough to inspire our awe. 
There is a temple to Fortune, built by one Marcus Tullius, sup- 
posed descendant of Cicero. There are temples to Isis and 
Esculapius — that of Isis being in excellent preservation. These 
priests were severer in their devotions than our friends who held 
out at the other establishments. They were celibates, who lived 
mainly on fish, never eating onions or the flesh of the sheep or 
hog. I suppose they were faithful in some respects, for the 
skeletons of two were found in this very temple, one attempting 
to break a door with an axe and another at dinner. As one of 
the rules of this order was perpetual devotion before the statue 
of the deity, it is supposed they were at their prayers when the 
hour came. Let us honor them for that, and trust that even 
fidelity to poor foolish Isis will not be forgotten in the day when 
all remembered deeds are to have their last account. 

"But almost as dear to Pompeii as her baths and Forum were 
the theatres. Here is a building which is known as the school 
of the gladiators. All the evidences show that Pompeii excelled 
in gladiatorial displays. Why not? Her people were rich and 
refined, and in no way could a community show, its wealth so 
much as by patronizing the gladiators. The school shows that 
there were accommodations for as many as one hundred and 
thirty-two in that building alone. Inscriptions show that in some 
of the public displays as many as thirty or thirty-five pairs of 
gladiators exhibited at one time. We did not visit the large 
amphitheatre, the small theatre being sufficient for our purpose. 
The ancient theatres were always open to the sun, this being a 
climate blessed with the sun. They were planned very much 
like our own. Where plays were performed, there was a stage, 
an orchestra, rows of shelving seats made of cement or stone, 
aisles and corridors and lobbies, just as you find them in Wal- 
lack's or Drury Lane. The mask played a prominent part in 
these plays, no object being more common among the discover- 
ies of Pompeii than the tragic and the comic mask. The plays 
were mainly from the Greek, and one can imagine and almost 
envy the multitudes who swarmed along these benches and wit- 



THE MEDITERRANEAN VOYAGE. 273 

nessed the tragedies of ^Eschylus. There is room enough in 
this theatre (the one which General Grant and his party so calmly 
surveyed) to contain five thousand people. Beyond this is a 
small theatre, which would hold fifteen hundred persons. The 
amphitheatre is at the outside of the town, and from the plans 
of it the writer studied, our party being too weary to walk the 
distance, it was a counterpart of the bull-rings which you see in 
Spain at the present day. The amphitheatre was the popular 
place of amusement in Pompeii, as the bull-ring is to-day in 
Madrid and Seville. It had accommodations for the whole 
population. In the centre was an arena, and in the centre of 
the arena an altar dedicated to Pluto or Diana, or some of the 
Jupiter species. It was here that the gladiators fought. Some- 
times they fought with wild beasts who were introduced into the 
arena. 

•'We have representations in the museum of combats between 
gladiators and the bull, the lion and the panther. In some of 
these pictures the man is unarmed. Others show a gladiator in 
the attitude of a Spanish matadore in a bull-ring, fighting a bear. 
The gladiator holds the cloak in one hand and the sword in the 
other, precisely as Senor Don Larzuello goes down the arena in 
Madrid to fio-ht an Andalusian bull. There are frescoes show- 
ing how men fought on horseback, the men armed with helmets, 
spears, and oval bucklers about large enough to cover the 
breast. The most frequent pictures are those of gladiators on 
foot, wearing winged helmets, buskins of leather, on the thighs 
iron guards, greaves on the knees, the other parts of the body 
naked. You remember, no doubt, the picture of Gerome, rep- 
resenting the arena — one gladiator prostrate, the other over him 
with sword extended, awaiting the signal from the emperor as 
to whether he would slay his foe. The signal was given by the 
spectators turning their thumbs if they want death. It was the 
wounded man's privilege to ask for life, which he did by raising 
his finger in supplication. In most of these pictures we have the 
raised finger in entreaty. Some show that the prayer has been 
refused, and the sword of the victor is at the throat of the victim. 
In this amphitheatre the Christians were thrown to the lions, and 



2 74 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the ashes still encumber the door through which the ghastly 
bodies of the slain were dragged after they had been 'butchered 
to make a Roman holiday.' 

"It is in these remnants of Pompeiian splendor that we see 
the cruelty of the old Roman life. We turn from it with a feel- 
ing of relief, as it is not pleasing to think that such things ever 
were possible in a world as beautiful and refined as that sur- 
rounding Pompeii. We pass to happier scenes, glimpses of the 
real life as it was two thousand years ago. The value of these 
ruins is in the truthfulness of what we see around us. We tire 
of temples, and fauns, and shows. How did these people live ? 
We see that there was little or no poverty in Pompeii. If there 
was any Five Points or Seven Dials quarter, it has not been ex- 
cavated. This was a happy summer town, where people came 
to find their pleasures. There was the house of unspeakable 
shame, which the guide, with glistening eyes, pointed out to the 
General as the special object of interest to tourists. But our 
General had no interest in scenes of shame and vice, and de- 
clined to enter the house. We sauntered about from street to 
street, and looked at the house called the house of the Tragic 
Poet. It is here that Bulwer Lytton places the home of Glaucus, 
in his 'Last Days of Pompeii.' We pass a lake house where the 
mills are ready to grind corn, and our guide explains how it was 
done in the ancient days — ' Pretty much,' the General remarks, 
'as it is done in primitive settlements now.' Here is an arcade 
which was supposed to be a market. Here is a subterranean 
passage leading to a dungeon. In the roof was a hole through 
which the judge announced to the prisoners their fate. We can 
fancy Christian martyrs clustering under these walls, and fearing 
not even the lions, in the blessed hope of that salvation whose 
gospel had only come from the shores of Galilee. We see 
ruined tombs and evidences of cremation, and house after house, 
streets and houses without end, until we become bewildered with 
the multitude and variety of sights. The impression made by 
the journey may be summed up in a remark of General Grant, 
that Pompeii was one of the few things which had not disap- 
pointed his expectations, that the truth was more striking than 



THE MEDITERRANEAN VOYAGE. 275 

imagination had painted, and that it was worth a journey over 
the sea to see and study its stately, solemn ruins. 

"The Italian authorities did General Grant special honor on 
his visit to Pompeii by directing that a house should be exca- 
vated. It is one of the special compliments paid to visitors of 
renown. The guide w ill show houses that have been excavated 
in the presence of Murat and his queen, of General Champion- 
net, and Joseph II., of Admiral Farragut and General Sherman, 
and General Sheridan. These houses are still known by the 
names of the illustrious persons who witnessed their exhumation, 
and the guide hastens to point out to you, if you are an Ameri- 
can, where honor was paid to our countrymen. When Sherman 
and Sheridan were here, large crowds attended, and the occasion 
was made quite a picnic. But General Grant's visit was known 
only to a few, and so when the director of excavations led the way 
to the proposed work, there were the General and his party and 
a group of our gallant and courteous friends from the ' Vandalia.' 
The quarter selected was near the Forum. Chairs were arranged 
for the General, Mrs. Grant, and some of us, and there quietly, in 
a room that had known Pompeiian life seventeen centuries ago, 
we awaited the signal that was to dig up the ashes that had fallen 
from Vesuvius that terrible night in August. Our group was 
composed of the General, his wife and son, Mr. Duncan, the 
American Consul in Naples, Commander Robeson, of the ' Van- 
dalia,' Lieutenants Strong, Miller and Rush, and Engineer Baird, 
of the same ship. We formed a group about the General, while 
the director gave the workmen the signal. The spades dived 
into the ashes, while with eager eyes we looked on. What story 
would be revealed of that day of agony and death ? Perhaps a 
mother, almost in the fruition of a proud mother's hopes, lying in 
the calm repose of centuries, like the figure we had seen only an 
hour ago dug from these very ruins. Perhaps a miser hurrying 
with his coin, only to fall in his door-way, there to rest in peace 
while seventeen centuries of the mighty world rolled over him, 
and to end at last in a museum. Perhaps a soldier fallen at his 
post, or a reveller stricken at the feast. All these things have 
been given us from Pompeii, and we stood watching the nimble 



276 AROUND THE WORLD. 

spades and the tumbling ashes, watching with the greedy eyes of 
gamblers to see what chance would send. Nothing came of any 
startling import. There were two or three bronze ornaments, a 
loaf of bread wrapped in cloth, the grain of the bread and the 
fibre of the cloth as clearly marked as when this probable rem- 
nant of a humble meal was put aside by the careful housewife's 
hands. Beyond this, and some fragments which we could not 
understand, this was all that came from the excavation of Pom- 
peii. The director was evidently disappointed. He expected a 
skeleton at the very least to come out of the cruel ashes and wel- 
come our renowned guest, who had come so many thousand miles 
to this Roman entertainment. He proposed to open another 
ruin, but one of our ' Vandalia ' friends, a very practical gentle- 
man, remembered that it was cold, and that he had been walking 
a good deal and was hungry, and when he proposed that, instead 
of excavating another ruin, we should ' excavate a beefsteak ' at 
the restaurant near the gate of the sea, there was an approval. 
The General, who had been leisurely smoking his cigar and 
studying the scene with deep interest, quietly assented, and, 
thanking the director for his courtesy, said he would give him 
no more trouble. So the laborers shouldered their shovels and 
marched off to their dinner, and we formed in a straggling, slow 
procession, and marched down the street where Nero rode in tri- 
umph, and across the Forum, where Cicero may have thundered 
to listening thousands, and through the narrow streets, past the 
wine-shops filled with jars which contain no wine — past the 
baker's, whose loaves are no longer in demand — past the thrifty 
merchant's, with his sign warning idlers away, a warning that has 
been well heeded by generations of men — past the house of the 
Tragic Poet, whose measures no longer burden the multitude, and 
down the smooth, slippery steps that once led through the gate 
opening to the sea — steps over which fishermen trailed their nets 
and soldiers marched in stern procession — into the doors of a very 
modern tavern. Pompeii was behind us, and a smiling Italian 
waiter welcomed us to wine and corn, meat and bread, olives and 
oranges. Around his wholesome board we gathered, and talked 
of the day and the many marvels we had seen." 



THE MEDITERRANEAN VOYAGE. 277 

On the 19th of December, General Grant went ashore to return 
the visits of the Neapolitan officials. As he left the " Vandalia " 
the yards were manned and a salute fired, which was returned by 
the flagship of the Italian Admiral. Upon landing, General Grant 
was met by the General commanding the district, who had a regi- 
ment paraded in his honor. In company with the Italian officials, 
General Grant visited the naval and military schools, and the 
palace, after which he attended a reception at the residence of 
Mr. Duncan, the American Consul. 

The 20th and 21st were passed at Naples. On the 2 2d the 
" Vandalia " sailed from Naples for Sicily, and at noon on the 23d 
of December dropped anchor in the harbor of Palermo. 

Palermo is the principal city of Sicily, and contains a popula- 
tion of 219,398 souls. It lies on the southwest side of an 
extensive bay, and is regularly built. It stands in a wide and 
beautiful plain, bounded by lofty mountains. 

" In front of the city, commanding delightful views of sea, shore, 
and mountain, is the Marini, a raised terrace or platform, extend- 
ing a mile along the bay ; it is 250 feet wide, and one of the finest 
public promenades in Palermo. Immediately below this there is 
a beautiful drive, formerly adorned with statues of the Bourbon 
kings. They were thrown down in the Revolution of 1848. At 
the east end of this walk is the Villa Giulia, or the Public Gar- 
den, laid out in walks interspersed with statues, fountains, and 
summer-houses. There is one lone fountain where the water 
falls over green niches, in which fresh nosegays are placed every 
day ; the effect of these flowers, seen through the falling crystal, 
is truly delightful. Adjoining this garden is the Botanical Gar- 
den, which contains a large collection of very valuable plants. 

" Two large streets, the Strada Nuovo and Strada Toledo, each 
upward of a mile in length, intersect each other at right angles, 
dividing the city into four equal parts, and leading to the four 
principal gates. These four different parts or quarters of the 
city are known by their respective names of Loggia, Albergaria, 
Kalsa, and Capo. 

" The main street of Palermo, the Toledo, is perfectly straight, 
and passes through the city from Porta Felice to Porta Nuova. 



278 AROUND THE WORLD. 

It preserves in its aspect, as well as its name, evident tokens of 
Spanish presence. Indeed, many influences are visible : the 
Greeks, the Carthaginians, who made Palermo the capital of 
their Sicilian dominions ; the Romans, the Saracens, the Nor- 
mans, and the Spaniards, have held her successively. Palermo 
may have forgotten her ancient rulers, but she has kept vivid 
traces of her modern masters. The streets are well paved with 
large flat blocks of lava, and are lined throughout their whole 
length with handsome buildings in the Doric, Ionian, and Co- 
rinthian orders, and enriched with statues and fountains. 

" Nearly all the finest mansions have miserable shops at the 
base, and when the occupant is short of room he usurps the side- 
walk, making the foot-passenger walk in the middle of the street 
among the carriages. Nearly all these houses have large, pictur- 
esque balconies, where the ladies spend a large portion of their 
time. They are generally on the upper floor, and are mostly 
hired by nuns, who have underground passages that lead from 
their cloisters ; they come here to breathe the fresh evening air 
after the heat of the day. The balconies are so closely grated 
that it is impossible to see them. 

" Palermo has a great number of convents and churches. 
There is said to be about seventy-five of the former. The 
churches, especially those that line the Toledo, are almost all 
magnificent — immense amounts have been lavished in splendid 
marbles and costly alabasters. Many of them are absolutely 
covered with mosaics; the floors, chapels, and columns, of inlaid 
marble ; and the altars and tabernacles of precious stones, lapis 
lazuli, verd-antique, malachite, and jasper. They are nearly all 
built with an elevated facade, a. long nave, and two side aisles, 
bounded by lateral chapels, dedicated to various saints, and 
decorated with pillars, paintings, statues, and flowers. 

"The Cathedral is a beautiful soecimen of the Sicilian- Arab- 

j. 

Norman style ; it is situated at the end of the Toledo, in a wide 
Piazza. It was erected by Archbishop Waller near the close of 
the Twelfth Century. The interior has been desecrated by 
whitewash. It contains some very good paintings ; a statue of 
St. Rosalie, the patron saint of Palermo ; the tombs of Roger, 



THE MEDITERRANEAN VOYAGE. 279 

the founder of the Norman kingdom of Sicily, that of Ferdinand 
II. and his wife Constance, etc., etc. 

" The Royal Palace, the residence of the viceroy, stands on a 
large square near the Porta Nuova ; it was begun by the Saracens, 
continued and finished by the Normans. One of the chambers 
of this palace contains the portraits of the Spanish, Neapolitan, 
and Sicilian viceroys. The apartments immediately above the 
viceroy's are kept in constant readiness for the king whenever 
he chooses to visit Sicily. During the Revolution of 1848 the 
population threw all the furniture out of the windows and de- 
stroyed it. They also destroyed one of the two ancient bronze 
Rams found at Syracuse. The palace contains a gallery of pic- 
tures and a good armory. On its summit is the observatory from 
which Piozza discovered the planet Ceres. There is a beautiful 
view of the city and harbor from this point." 

On the 24th — Christmas Eve — the captains of the ships in 
port plying between Palermo and New England came on board 
the " Vandalia " to pay their respects to General Grant. On Christ- 
mas morning the ships in the harbor were gayly dressed with 
flaes and buntine in honor of the General. At noon the Prefect 
of Palermo came on board in his state barge, and was received 
with a salute of fifteen guns. He tendered to General Grant 
the cordial hospitalities of the city, but as the duration of the 
General's stay would not permit him to accept them, they were 
declined with thanks. After the Prefect's departure, the General 
and Captain Robeson went on shore, and spent a few hours 
sauntering through the city. In the evening there was a pleasant 
dinner in the ward-room of the "Vandalia," given by the officers 
of the ship in honor of General and Mrs. Grant. At night there 
was a display of fireworks from the shipping in the harbor. 

On the 26th, the General returned the visits that had been 
paid him. "This," says Mr. Young, "is one of the duties — I 
was nearly writing penalties — of our trip. The incognito of 
General Grant is one that no one will respect. He declines all 
honors and attentions, so far as he can do so without rudeness, 
and is especially indifferent to the parade and etiquette by which 
his journey is surrounded. It is amusing, knowing General 



280 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Grant's feelings on this subject, to read the articles in English 
and home papers about his craving for precedence and his fear 
lest he may not have the proper seat at table and the highest 
number of guns. General Grant has declined every attention 
of an official character thus far, except those whose non-accept- 
ance would have been misconstrued." 

From Palermo the "Vandalia" sailed for Malta, passing 
through the Straits of Messina. The passage of the straits was 
made by daylight, and the travellers had a fine view of the shores 
of the mainland of Italy and of Sicily. Messina and Reggio 
were passed in full sight, and a splendid view of Mount Etna 
was obtained. The famous volcano remained in sight until 
nightfall. 

Malta was reached about one o'clock in the afternoon of De- 
cember 28th. This famous island lies in the Mediterranean, and 
belongs to Great Britain. It is situated about fifty miles south of 
Sicily, and contains a population of 1 10,000 souls. It is naturally 
a barren, rocky island, seventeen miles long and nine broad. It 
has been made by the industry of its people -an exceedingly fer- 
tile place, and cotton, wheat, barley, grapes, oranges, lemons, and 
other products are grown in great profusion. 

The principal city and port of the island is Valetta, named 
after John de la Vallette, who was Grand Master of the Knights 
of St. John, who formerly owned the island, and who built the 
town in the sixteenth century. The streets of the city are regu- 
lar and well-paved, but "from the declivity on which some part 
of the city is built, many of them are steep, with side-walks com- 
posed of stairs. They are kept remarkably clean, being swept 
every morning. The houses, which are built of stone, and are 
generally of three stories, have all flat-roofed terraces, which 
serve the double purpose of being an agreeable resort for a walk 
and a receptacle for the rain which falls during the winter, from 
whence it runs into the cistern with which every dwelling is pro- 
vided. 

" Valetta is built upon a tongue of land extending into a bay, 
forming two splendid harbors ; one called the Great Harbor, the 
other the Quarantine Harbor. The former is used for govern- 



JiliiiiiiM 



.1 liiiis 



II |!| j 








a mm 



PjfllSSllBlilHInmili nWJllfv ■' ■^■■■:tR.-; , :f.i : .i.'.a:, , .l!l l l.l B^lliH' 
(281) 



282 AROUND THE WORLD. 

ment vessels alone, the latter for foreign vessels and those in 
quarantine. The city is closed by three gates : Porta Reale, 
which leads to the country ; Porta Marsamuscetto, which leads to 
the Ouarantine Harbor, and through which all strangers enter 
the city ; and the Marina Gate, from the Great Harbor. 

" The fortifications which surround the town are very high, and 
many of them formed out of the solid rock. The walls measure 
about fifteen feet wide, and are composed chiefly of the common 
limestone of the country; their whole circumference is two miles 
and a half. The ditch which crosses the peninsula from the 
Ouarantine to the Great Harbor, cutting off all communication 
with the city, is about 1,000 feet long, 120 deep, and 120 wide; 
this is crossed by five bridges. Beyond the counterscarp are 
many outworks and a glacis built in the same massive style, and 
well supplied with cannon, rendering the city one of the best for- 
tified in the world." 

The population of Valetta is about 70,000. 

As the " Vandalia " came to anchor in the harbor, she fired a 
salute of twenty-one guns in honor of the port she was visiting. 
Immediately a boat put off from the English iron-clad " Sultan," 
the nearest vessel, and her commander, the Duke of Edinburgh, 
the second son of Queen Victoria, came on board to welcome 
General Grant to Malta. He was received at the gangway by 
Captain Robeson, and presented to General Grant. The Duke 
was dressed in his uniform as a Captain in the British navy, and 
wore on his breast the star of the Order of the Garter. " The 
General advanced and greeted the Duke, and presented the gen- 
tlemen with him, and they retired to the cabin. They remained 
in conversation for the best part of an hour, talking about Malta, 
its antiquities, its history, England, education, the Eastern ques- 
tion, the weather, and Besika Bay. His royal highness said he 
had orders to sail, and supposed his destination was Smyrna. He 
had had his time at Besika Bay, and did not regard the return 
with any enthusiasm. He spoke of the visit of his brother-in- 
law, the Grand Duke Alexis, to America, and of the gratification 
of the family at the reception by our people. The duke is the 
pattern of a sailor, and has all the ease and off-hand grace of his 



THE MEDITERRANEAN VOYAGE. 283 

family. On taking his leave his royal highness asked the Gen- 
eral and family to visit him at his palace of San Antonio and 
take luncheon. The palace of San Antonio is about four miles 
from the town. It is surrounded by orange groves and walls, and 
is noted as the only large garden on the island. The drive was 
through an interesting, glaring country, the perpetual glare 
almost dimming our eyes. When we reached the palace the 
duke and duchess received the General and party. After 
luncheon his royal highness escorted them through the orange 
groves. At noon General Grant visited the Governor-General 
of Malta. On leaving-, the General was saluted with twentv-one 
guns. A regiment was drawn up in front of the palace as a 
guard of honor. The governor, a famous old English general, 
Van Straubeuzee, wore the order of the Grand Cross of the Bath. 
He received the General and party at the door of the palace, sur- 
rounded by his council and a group of Maltese noblemen. After 
presentation to Lady Van Straubeuzee the same ceremonies were 
repeated. In the evening there was a state dinner to the Gen- 
eral and party at the palace, including among the guests Com- 
mander Robeson and Lieutenant-Commander Caldwell, of the 
*■ Vandalia,' as well as the captain and executive officer of the 
* Gettysburg.' At the dinner General Grant's health was pro- 
posed, which was responded to in the heartiest manner. We all 
then went to the opera, and on the entrance of the General the 
company sang the ' Star-spangled Banner,' Miss Wheelock, of 
Boston, singing the air. The cheering was enthusiastic, and the 
reception of the General cordial in the last degree." 

On the following day a pleasant visit was made to the Duke of 
Edinburgh on board the "Sultan." On the 31st, the "Vandalia" 
steamed out of the harbor of Valetta, and turned her head toward 
the coast of Egypt. 

The sail across the Mediterranean was very pleasant. " Our 
company," said Mr. Young in his letter to the Herald, describing 
the voyage, " is composed of General Grant, his wife, his son 
Jesse R. Grant, a maid, and a courier, Mr. Hartog, who has been 
with the General on his journey. The General occupies the cabin, 
which he shares with the Captain. It is a commodious cabin, 



284 AROUND THE WORLD. 

prettily decorated. The General has a commodious little room 
in the bow of the ship ; his son lies in a swinging cot, and takes 
his rest like the clock pendulum. The steady routine goes on 
around us. On a man-of-war, life moves to the beat of the 
drum. The hours, the watches, the calls, the drill, the discipline, 
the ceremony — the sense of command and the sense of obe- 
dience — all this is so new to us that it becomes interesting. Life 
on board of a man-of-war is like being a cog in a wheel — you go 
around and around and cannot help yourself. You rise by the 
beat of the drum ; the drum beats when you go to sleep. Its 
alarm summons you to dinner. Everything is strict, steady, 
precise. 

" Our General fell into his sea-life quite readily. He seemed 
to welcome the sea with the rapture of a boy going home for a 
holiday. He is not an early riser, but keeps up the American 
custom of a breakfast at ten. After breakfast he takes up a 
newspaper, if he can find one, and a cigar. My friend Mark 
Twain will be glad to know that the General read with delight 
and appreciation his ' Innocents Abroad.' In Naples one of us 
discovered an English version of the ' Nasby Papers,' which was 
a boon. About noon, if the weather is calm, the General comes 
on deck, and converses or studies the sea and the scenery. 
Dinner comes at six o'clock, and after dinner there is talk. 
When the General is in the mood, or when some subject arises 
which interests him, he is not only a good, but a remarkably good 
talker. His manner is clear and terse. He narrates a story as 
clearly as he would demonstrate a problem in geometry. His 
mind is accurate and perspicacious. He has no resentments, 
and this was a surprising feature, remembering the battles, civil 
and military, in which he has been engaged. I have heard him 
refer to most of the men, civil and military, who have flourished 
with him, and there is only one about whom I have seen him show 
feelincr. But it was feeling like that of the farmer in the school- 
book who saw the viper which he had warmed to life about to 
sting him. I do not mention names, because I have no wish to 
excite controversies, such, for instance, as the controversy over 
Sumner. I will only allude to the Sumner business so far as to 



THE MEDITERRANEAN VOYAGE. 285 

say that I think General Grant has been rather severely used in 
the matter. I have never heard General Grant speak with bit- 
terness of Mr. Sumner. He told his story of the removal of Mr, 
Motley, and only told it, if I may quote his own words, when he 
had been charged by the friends of Mr. Sumner with having 
killed Mr. Motley. I had known General Grant fairly well 
before I became the companion of his travels, and had formed 
my own opinion of his services and character. A closer relation 
strengthens that opinion. The impression that the General makes 
upon you is that he has immense resources in reserve. He has 
in eminent degree that 'two o'clock in the morning courage' 
which Napoleon said he alone possessed among his marshals 
and generals. You are also impressed with his good feel- 
ing and magnanimity in speaking of comrades and rivals in the 
war. In some cases — especially in the cases of Sherman and 
Sheridan, MacPherson and Lincoln — it becomes an enthusiasm 
quite beautiful to witness. Cadet days are a favorite theme of 
conversation, and after cadet life the events of the war." 



CHAPTER VII. 

EGYPT AND THE NILE, 

The Coast of Egypt — The Harbor of Alexandria — The City — Modern Alexandria — Arrival of 
the " Vandalia" at Alexandria — A Royal Welcome to General Grant — Official Visits — 
Photographs — Leaving the " Vandalia " — Arrival at Cairo — General Grant the Guest of the 
Khedive — The Palace Kassr-el-Noussa — Visit to the Khedive — Hospitalities in Cairo — 
Description oi Cairo — The Mosques — The Bazaars — General Grant Visits the Pyramids — 
The Khedive Places a Government Steamer at General Grant's disposal for the Nile 
Voyage — The Departure — Up the Nile — The Party on Board — Brugsch-Bey — The Boat — 
The Crew— Life on the Nile— The Desert— The Arabs— Siout— A Hearty Welcome— The 
Town — An Egyptian Dinner — Arrival at Girgeh — Meeting with Friends — Visit to Abydos 
— A Donkey Ride — Arab Boys — The Oldest City in the World — An Arab Host — General 
Grant at Thebes — The City of Rameses — The Statues of Memnon — Luxor — The Great 
Temple — Medeenet Aboo — Dinner with the Consul — Karnak — The Temple — The Sacred 
Lake — Assouan — Nubia — Shopping at Assouan — Visit to Philse — The Voyage down the 
Nile — Visit to Memphis — The Serapeum — Return to Cairo — Departure for Port Said — On 
Board the " Vandalia " Again. 

N the 5th of January, 1878, the coast of Egypt was 
sighted, and on the same day the "Vandalia" cast anchor 
in the harbor of Alexandria. 
" From whichever side it is approached the coast of Egypt is 
so exceedingly low, that the highest parts only begin to be seen 
at the distance of about eighteen miles, and the line of the coast 
itself is not discernible till within thirteen or fourteen. Though 
there is water to the depth of six fathoms close to the Pharos, 
and from five and a half to four alono- the whole shore to the 
point of Eunostus, at the entrance of the western harbor, and at 
one and a half miles off not less than twenty fathoms, it is ex- 
ceedingly dangerous to approach at night. There is, however, 
very good holding ground in the roads ; and ships anchor, or lay 
to, about a mile off shore. The first objects perceived from the 
sea are Pompey's Pillar, the forts on the mounds constructed by 
the French, and the detached forts added by Mohammed Ali, the 
Pharos and new lighthouse, and the buildings on the Ras et Teen 

(the 'Cape of Figs'), between the two ports; and on nearing 

(286) 




1 1 




A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF EGYPT, SHOWING THE PLACES VISITED BY GENERAL GRANT. 

(287) 



288 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the land, the obelisk, the Pasha's hareem and palace, the houses 
of the town, the masts of ships, and the different batteries (which 
have been lately much increased), the windmills to the west, and 
the line of coast extending to Marabut Point, begin to be seen. 
There is nothing at all remarkable in the view of Alexandria 
from the sea . . . the town looks like a long, horizontal streak 
of whitewash, mingled with brown, and crossed perpendicularly 
with the sharp lines of ships' masts. 

"The old lighthouse, which occupies the site of the ancient 
Pharos, on a rock joined to the land by a causeway, had long 
been pronounced insufficient for the safety of vessels making the 
coast, both from its want of height and the bad quality of the 
light itself, especially in foggy weather, when it could scarcely be 
seen till a vessel had neared the land. Its distance from the 
western harbor was an additional cause of complaint. To remedy 
these inconveniences, Mohammed Ali erected the lighthouse on 
the point of Eunostus, and the present Khedive has perfected 
his grandfather's work by placing in it a twenty-second revolving 
light, visible at a distance of twenty miles. 

" Vessels can only enter the harbor in daylight ; if they arrive 
after sunset they are obliged to lay-to till the next morning. None 
may enter without a pilot, whose guidance is considered neces- 
sary to take them through the complicated channels of the port. 
Sometimes, if the weather is very rough, a ship may have to wait 
outside a day or more, as either a pilot will not come out, or the 
ship itself may draw too much water to admit of her passing 
over the principal shoal when the waves are running very high." 

As the " Vandalia" entered the harbor she was Greeted with loud 
cheers from the ships in port, and a thundering salute from the 
batteries and Egyptian men-of-war, while the bands on the 
Egyptian vessels played American national airs. 

Alexandria is a city of great antiquity. It was founded by 
Alexander the Great, who named it after himself. Its history is 
deeply interesting. It passed, with Egypt, into the hands of 
the Ptolemies, and was their capital. It was wrested from them 
by the Romans, who yielded it to the Saracens, since which time 
it has been under Moslem rule. It was a magnificent city in 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 289 

ancient times, and contained many noble edifices. But few of 
these remain, the city having suffered severely from wars and 
internal disturbances. "Alexandria," says a recent writer, "is a 
cosmopolitan city of French houses, Italian villas, Turkish latticed 
windowed buildings, and native mud-hovels, where every tongue 
is commonly spoken, and every coin is in common circulation. 
A city of extremes and contrasts. Deluged in winter by rain, 
and at times even pinched by cold : it is annually scorched 
for five months by a fierce sun, dusted by desert sand, and 
parched by drought. Excellent European shops of all descrip- 
tions stand amongst Eastern coffee-houses and bazaars. In- 
habited by men of all nations, a fancy ball could scarce produce 
a more incongruous crowd than that which fills its streets. Eng- 
lish and Greek sailors jostle their way through a throng of 
Italian and French merchants, German mechanics, Maltese ser- 
vants, Turkish and Egyptian women, donkeys with their boy- 
masters, and camels with their Arab drivers. More beautiful 
women may be seen in it any day than anywhere out of London, 
and others, poor things, more ugly and squalid than even Lon- 
don can produce. Then passes a carriage full of Greeks, who 
contradict our insular prejudices in favor of English beauty, and 
then an artificial product of the Boulevards is knocked by a 
donkey off her high heels into a puddle. And what puddles ! 
In this, the old part of the town, there is no road properly speak- 
ing, and no pathway. Man, woman, or beast, each takes the 
way which offers, and makes the best of the open space. The 
road was once, like everything in Egypt, well, even prodigally, 
made, and then left to take care of itself. After the manner of 
roads, it gave unevenly, and the weak parts had become quag- 
mires, the strong rocks. The ruts were not ruts, but rather 
chains of ponds filled with mud which was water, and with water 
which was mud. Between the ponds the remnants of the old 
road served as embankments, and at each moment our carriage 
hauled painfully up one of these, poised itself dripping at the 
top before making another plunge into the sea below." 

The population of Alexandria is about 225,000, of which about 
three-fourths are native, and one-fourth foreign. 
19 



29O ' AROUND THE WORLD. 

The city of Alexandria forms an independent government, 
apart from the province in which it is situated. It has its own 
governor, who is assisted in all matters relating to the internal 
administration of the town by a municipal council. The forma- 
tion of this body is of very recent date. It is composed of half 
natives and half Europeans; and, if the objects for which it was 
established can be thoroughly carried out, it will contribute very 
essentially to the improvement of the town, and the general 
well-being - of the inhabitants. 

Alexandria is admirably situated between the west mouth of 
the Nile and Lake Mareotis, and is connected with the Rosetta 
mouth of the Nile by the Mahmondieh canal, reopened in 18 19 
by Mehemet Ali. 

" The modern city is partly built on the celebrated island of 
Pharos and the isthmus that connects it with the main land. The 
ancient city was built in the main land opposite the present site. 
Alexandria has two ports — that on the west, which is the best, 
is called the old harbor, that on the east the new. 

"Since the opening of the canal, Alexandria has increased 
wonderfully in size, and regained much of that commercial im- 
portance for which it was in ancient times so celebrated." 

The " Vandalia " had hardly anchored in the harbor of Alex- 
andria, says Mr. Young, in his letter to the New York Herald, 
" when the governor of the district, the admiral and the generals, 
pachas and beys, the Consul General, Mr. Farman ; the Vice 
Consul, Mr. Salvago ; Judges Barringer and Morgan, and the 
missionaries, all came on board. The receptions lasted an hour, 
and as each officer was saluted according to his rank and the 
salutes were returned, there was smoke enough in the air for a 
naval engagement, and we could almost fancy another battle of 
the Nile like that fought only a step or two up the coast one 
eventful day, nearly eighty years ago. The governor, in the name 
of the Khedive, welcomed General Grant to Egypt, and offered 
him a palace in Cairo and a special steamer up the Nile. It is 
Oriental etiquette to return calls as soon as possible, and accord- 
ingly in the afternoon the General, accompanied by his son, Com- 
mander Robeson, Chief-Engineer Trilley, and Lieutenant Handy, 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 29 1 

of the navy, landed in the official barge. As this was an official 
visit, the ' Vandalia ' manned the yards and fired twenty-one 
guns. These salutes were responded to by the Egyptian vessels. 
A guard of honor received the General at the palace, and the re- 
ception was after the manner of the Orientals. We enter a 
spacious chamber and are seated on a cushioned seat or divan, 
according to rank. The pacha — who has a Greek face, and I 
presume is a Greek — offers the company cigarettes. Then com- 
pliments are exchanged, the pacha saying how proud Egypt is to 
see the illustrious stranger, and the General answering that he 
anticipates great pleasure in visiting Egypt. The pacha gives a 
signal, and servants enter bearing little porcelain cups about as 
laro-e as an eggf, in filaoree cases. This is the beverage — coffee 
— or, as was the case with. this special pacha, a hot drink spiced 
with cinnamon. Then the conversation continues with judicious 
pauses, the Orientals being slow in speech and our General 
not apt to diffuse his opinions. In about live minutes we arise 
and file down-stairs in slow, solemn fashion, servants and guards 
saluting, and the visit is over. 

"The General and Mrs. Grant went to dine, and in the even- 
ing we had a ball and a dinner at the house of our Vice-Consul, 
Mr. Salvago. This was an exceedingly brilliant entertainment, 
and interesting in one respect especially, because it was here that 
the General met my renowned friend and colleague, Henry M. 
Stanley, just fresh from the African wilderness. The General 
had heard of Stanley being in town, and had charged me to seek 
him out and ask him to come on board and dine. My letter 
missed Stanley, and we met at the consul's. Stanley sat on the 
right of the General, and they had a long conversation upon 
African matters and the practical results of the work done by our 
intrepid friend. The Consul-General proposed the health of 
General Grant, and Judge Barringer proposed that of Mrs. 
Grant, who, by the way, was prevented by fatigue from coming. 
Then a toast was proposed in honor of Stanley, who made a 
grateful response, saying it was one of the proudest moments in 
his life to find himself seated by our guest. Stanley looks quite 
gray and somewhat thinner than when I saw him in New York, 



292 AROUND THE WORLD. 

just before his departure, three years ago. I gave him all the 
news I could remember about friends in New York and elsewhere. 
Next morning Mr. Farman, our Consul-General, and myself saw 
him on board the Brindisi steamer, which was to carry him to Eu- 
rope — to new honors and the enjoyment of a well-earned and 
enviable renown. The entertainment at Mr. Salvago's at an end, 
we returned on board. The next day was Sunday. The Gen- 
eral, accompanied by Mr. Young, landed, meaning to stroll about 
the town. Walking is one of the General's favorite occupations, 
and he never sees a town until he has gone ashore and lost him- 
self. His eye for topography is remarkable: but that is a mili- 
tary quality, after all, and in Alexandria, one of the most huddled- 
up and bewildering towns, he had a fine opportunity for the 
exercise of his skill. Then there was an informal luncheon, as 
became the Sabbath, with Mr. Gibbs, the director of the tele- 
graph; Commander Robeson and Lieutenant-Commander Cald- 
well forming the other members of the party. The event of 
Monday, January 7th, was that we formed a group on the quar- 
ter-deck, and had our photographs taken, the General and family 
in the centre, and around them the wardroom, steerage, and 
warrant officers of the ' Vandalia.' 

"This event closed our life on the ' Vandalia' for a month at 
least. It was only au revoir and not good-by, but there was just 
enough of the feeling of parting to give a tinge of sadness to 
the mass of trunks and bundles which the sailors, under the 
orders of the Marquis, were arranging on deck. We were to do 
Cairo and the Nile, we were to be gone three weeks, and we 
were to return. But the only one of the party who really wanted 
to leave was our noble friend, the Marquis, whose spirits have 
been steadily rising since he came to land and heard the rumor 
of the Khedive's hospitality. As he takes command of the bag- 
gage and directs the sailors in their handling of it, you see in 
his eye the enthusiasm of one born to command when in his own 
element. When he pushes off in the tug, trailing the luggage 
in a boat behind him, there is a disposition to fire a salute, but 
the regulations are not elastic, and the Marquis with his im- 
portant command has only a silent adieu. We are not long in 




v ! iii! 



i ii 1 ' 






i ! '( 



m s 



i'wiiiii mm 



(293) 



294 AROUND THE WORLD. 

following him. We have a special train at our command, and 
the captain and a group of the officers are going up to attend the 
presentation to the Khedive. The governor of the province, 
with his retinue, met the General, and at eleven the train, a 
special one, started. Judge Barringer and wife were of the 
company, and the run to Cairo was made in four hours. The 
General studied the scenery closely, and noted the resemblance 
in some portions to prairie land in Illinois. Mrs. Grant was 
more impressed with the poetry of the scene — with the Biblical 
associations that cluster about this strange land. The officers 
formed a merry company in their compartments, while the Mar- 
quis was in an advanced section, holding guard over a lunch- 
basket. The Marquis is a great admirer of the Khedive, and 
expresses himself earnestly in favor of a government which wel- 
comes its guests to a palace. He takes no interest in the ruins, 
believing Cairo to be more interesting because of the cafes, 
which remind him of Paris, than the Pyramids, which he regards 
as entirely useless. At three o'clock we come to Cairo. There 
is a guard, a carpet way, and a group of officers and civilians. 
The General, looking at the group, recognizes old friends. 
'Why,' he says, 'there's Loring, whom I have not seen for thirty 
years; ' and 'There's Stone, who must have been dyeing his hair 
to make it so white.' The cars stop, and General Stone enters, 
presenting the representative of the Khedive. This officer ex- 
tends the welcome of his highness, which General Grant accepts 
with thanks. General Loring comes in, and receives a hearty 
greeting from his old friend in early days and his enemy during 
the war. General Stone and General Grant were at West Point, 
and are old friends, and their meeting is quite enthusiastic. The 
General asks General Loring to ride with him, while General 
Stone accompanies Mrs. Grant, and so we drive off to the Palace 
of Kassr-el-Noussa — the palace placed at General Grant's dis- 
posal by the Khedive. Commander Robeson and Lieutenant 
Rush accept the General's invitation to reside in the palace while 
they are in Cairo, and the remainder of the party find homes in 
the hotel. 

"The General dined quietly with his family, and next day called 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 295 

on the Khedive. The hour fixed for the reception was eleven, 
and a few minutes before that hour the state carriages called at 
the palace. The General wore plain evening dress, and was ac- 
companied by the following officers: Commander H. B. Robe- 
son, commanding the 'Vandalia;' Joseph Trilley, chief engineer; 
George H. Cooke, surgeon; Lieutenant E. T. Strong, Lieutenant 
J. W. Miller, Paymaster J. P. Loomis; G. W. Baird, engineer; H. 
L. Hoskinson, ensign ; B. F. Walling and E. S. Hotchkin, midship- 
men; E. R. Freeman, engineer. Jesse R. Grant and Consul- 
General Farman accompanied the General. We reached the 
palace shortly after eleven. There was a guard of honor, and 
the officers of the household were ranged on the stairs. The 
General entered, and was met by his highness the Khedive at 
the foot of the stairs. The General, his son, and Mr. Farman 
went into an inner room, where the ceremonies of the formal 
presentation took place. The officers then entered, and were 
received by his highness, who expressed his gratification at seeing 
so many representatives of the navy. This reception lasted about 
half an hour, the Khedive showing the General the pictures 
on his walls painted in commemoration of the opening of the 
Suez Canal. We then returned to the palace. We had scarcely 
entered when the carriage of the Khedive was announced. The 
General received the Khedive, who was accompanied by his sec- 
retary for foreign affairs, and welcomed him in the grand saloon, 
where Mrs. Grant also received his highness. The officers of 
the 'Vandalia' were present, and their striking uniforms, the 
picturesque costume of the Khedive and his attendants, and the 
splendid, stately decorations of the room in which they assembled, 
made the group imposing. In the course of this conversation 
General Grant spoke of General Stone, now chief of staff to the 
Khedive. He said he had known General Stone from boyhood, 
and did not think he had his superior in our army; that he was 
a loyal and able man, and he was pleased to see him holding so 
important a command. The Khedive said he was very much 
pleased with General Stone, that he found him a most useful as 
well as a most able man, especially fitted to organize troops, and 
had made him a member of his privy council. At the close of 



296 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the interview General Grant escorted the Khedive to his carriage. 
Official calls were then made upon the two sons of the Khedive, 
who at once returned the calls, and so ended our official duties. 

" Judge Batcheller, the American member of the International 
Tribunal, gave General and Mrs. Grant a reception and a dance, 
which was a most attractive affair. The Khedive intended to 
give the General a dinner and reception, but the death of the 
King of Italy threw his court into mourning, and this dinner will 
take place after our return from the Nile. The Consul-General, 
E. E. Farman, crave a dinner at the New Hotel. The p-uests 
were General Grant, Mrs. Grant, Jesse R. Grant, Judge and Mrs. 
Barringer, Judge and Mrs. Batcheller, M. Comanos and Mme. 
Comanos, General Charles P. Stone, Mrs. Stone and Miss Stone, 
General Loring, Colonel Dye, Mme. Colestone, Colonel Graves, 
Colonel Mitchell, Rev. Dr. Lansing and Mrs. Lansing, M. and 
Mme. de Ortega Morejon, Judge and Mme. Hagens, Mr. Tower, 
Admiral Steadman, Mr. Van Dyck and Dr. George H. Cooke, of 
the 'Vandalia.' The members of the Khedive's household and 
family who were invited could not come because of the mourn- 
ing for the King of Italy. The dinner was worthy of the best 
kitchens in Paris, and gave the priests a pood idea of the 
culinary resources of Egypt. At its close toasts were drunk to 
the Khedive and President." 

Cairo, the capital of Egypt, is situated on the right or east bank 
of the Nile, in the sloping plain lying between that river and a 
projecting angle of the Mokattam Hills. It was founded by 
Gowher, a general of El Moez, or Aboo Tummim, the first of 
the Fowatem or Fatemite dynasty who ruled in Egypt. It was 
founded in a. d. 969. 

"Cairo was the residence of the caliph, and capital of his do- 
minions, until the overthrow of the Memlook sovereignty in 
Egypt by Sultan Selim in 151 7, and the abolition of the nominal 
Abbaseeyah caliphate. It then became the capital of the Turkish 
province of Egypt, and continued so until its capture by the 
French after the so-called battle of the Pyramids in 1798. Their 
occupation lasted three years, when the city was again taken by 
the Turks and English in 1801. In 181 1 Mohammed Ali, by his 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 297 

massacre of the Memlooks in the citadel, attained almost absolute 
power in Egypt, and Cairo became once more the capital of a vir- 
tually independent kingdom. Many improvements in the state 
of the city were made in his reign, but the greatest changes have 
taken place since the accession of the present Khedive in 1863. 
New streets have been opened through the centre of the city, new' 
quarters laid out and designed, and the general aspect in many 
parts completely changed. 

"In shape, Cairo is an irregular oblong, about three miles in 
length and two miles in breadth, and occupies an area of more 
than three square miles, an extent which will be considerably in- 
creased when the new quarter of Ismaileeyah is completed, and 
all the ground lying between the city and its suburb Boolak 
covered with houses. The capital of Egypt is seated like a bird 
on a hill, the whole of which it covers with outspread wings. . . . 
High above all stretches upwards the citadel, with the dome and 
minarets of its magnificent mosque. The grand site has been 
most happily occupied, and suddenly seen as the city was by us, 
with the last rays of the evening light flitting over the buildings, 
and every line of the architecture clearly and sharply defined 
against the darkening sky, it appeared more like a dream of 
fairy-land, or a scene in a play, or a picture of Turner's, than a 
real and living town. In addition also to the perfection of its own 
site, Cairo possesses with London, with Paris, Vienna, and many 
a capital, the advantage of being placed amid some of the prettiest 
scenery in the country over which it rules. 

" The whole of the Oriental part of the city is divided into quar- 
ters, separated from each other by gates, which are closed at night. 
A porter is appointed to each, who is obliged to open the door to 
all who wish to pass through, unless there is sufficient reason to 
believe them to be improper persons, or not furnished with a 
lamp, which every one is obliged to carry after the E'sher. The 
majority of these quarters consist of dwelling-houses, and are 
known by a name taken from some public building, from some 
individual to whom the property once belonged, or from some 
class of persons who live there : as the Hart es Suggain, ' Quar- 
ter of the Water-carriers ; ' the Hart en Nassara, or Hart el 



298 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Kobt, ' the Christian,' or ' Copt, quarter ; ' the Hart el Yahood, 
'Jews' quarter;' the Hart el Frang, 'Frank quarter;' and the 
like. 

"The Copt quarter occupies one side of the Esbekeeyah. It is 
built much on the same principle as the rest of the town ; but 
some of the houses are very comfortably fitted up, and present a 
better appearance than is indicated by their exterior. It has a 
gate at each end, and others in the centre, two of which open on 
the Esbekeeyah. The Copt quarter stands on the site of the old 
village of El Maks. 

" The Jews' quarter c nsists of narrow dirty streets or lanes, 
while many of the houses of the two opposite sides actually touch 
each other at the upper stories. The prihcipal reasons of their 
being made so narrow are t afford protection in case of the 
quarter being attacked, and to make both the streets and houses 
cooler in summer. 

"The old Frank quarter is usually known to Europeans by the 
name of the Mooskee, supposed to be corrupted from Miskawee. 
This last is said to have been given it in very early times 
(according to some, in the reign of Moez, the founder of the 
city), in consequence of its being the abode of the water-carriers ; 
and, according to the same authority, when the city was enlarged, 
and their huts were removed to make way f r better houses, the 
streets which extended through this quarter (from what is now 
the Darb el Barabra to the Hamzowee) still retained the name of 
Darb al Miskawee. This, however, appears not to have been the 
real origin of the name ; and some derive it from misk, ' musk,' 
but for what reason does not appear. It was here that the first 
Franks who opened shops in Cairo were permitted to reside, in 
the reign of Yoosef Salah-ed-deen (Saladin). But the number 
of houses occupied by them in later times having greatly 
increased, the Frank quarter has extended far beyond its 
original limits, and the Mooskee now includes several of the 
adjacent streets. This quarter is sometimes called by the natives 
the ' Hart el Frang.' 

" The Esbekeeyah is now considered as a separate quarter, and 
the ground to the west of it, in which houses are rapidly springing 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 299 

up, is called Ismaileeyah. To the south is the quarter of Abdeen. 
These three are now the fashionable quarters. The whole of the 
Esbekeeyah and of the Ismaileeyah, and part of Abdeen, are pro- 
vided with good roads and pavements, and lighted with gas. 
This last improvement renders the carrying of a lantern (fanoos) 
at night no longer necessary nor obligatory in these quarters. 

" For administrative purposes Cairo is now divided into ten 
quarters or Toomns : Esbekeeyah, Bab esh Shareeyah, Abdeen, 
Darb el Gammameez, Darb el Ahmar, Gemeleeyah, Shessoon, 
Kaleefa, Boolak, and Old Cairo. 

" Cairo, like Alexandria, forms a government distinct from the 
province in which it is situated. It has its own governor, who is 
assisted by a deputy. Police cases are decided by the Zabit, or 
prefect of police, whose office is at the Zaptieh, close to the street 
leading to the palace of Abdeen. An attempt has been made to 
establish a municipal police, but with no great success. The 
same rule in criminal cases holds orood here as at Alexandria : if 
the defendant is a foreigner he must be taken before his own con- 
sular court. Civil cases between natives and foreigners and 
foreigners of different nationalities are decided by the new mixed 
tribunals. 

" Cairo is said to contain 500 mosques. Many of them are in 
ruins, but the greater number of those that are still in repair, and 
used for the daily prayers, must be apparent to any one who 
passes through the streets, or sees their numerous minarets from 
without. 

"The mosques of Cairo are so numerous that none of them is 
inconveniently crowded on Friday ; and some of them are so 
large as to occupy spaces three or four hundred feet square. 
They are mostly built of stone, the alternate courses of which are 
generally colored externally red and white. Most commonly a 
large mosque consists of porticos surrounding a square open 
court, in the centre of which is a tank or fountain for ablution. 
One side of the building faces the direction of Mekkeh, and the 
portico on this side, being the principal place of prayer, is more 
spacious than those on the other three sides of the court: it 
generally has two or more rows of columns, forming so many 



300 AROUND THE WORLD. 

aisles, parallel with the exterior walls. In some cases this por- 
tico, like the other three, is open to the court; in other cases it 
is separated from the court by partitions of wood, connecting the 
front row of columns. In the centre of its exterior wall is the 
' Mehrab' (or niche), which marks the direction of Mekkeh ; and 
to the right of this is the ' Mimbar ' (or pulpit). Opposite the 
Mehrab, in the fore part of the portico, or in its central part, 
there is generally a platform called ' dikkeh,' surrounded by a 
parapet, and supported by small columns ; and by it, or before it, 
are one or two seats, having a kind of desk to bear a volume of 
the Kur-an, from which a chapter is read to the congregation. 
The walls are generally quite plain, being simply whitewashed ; 
but in some mosques the lower part of the wall of the place of 
prayer is lined with colored marbles, and the other part orna- 
mented with various devices executed in stucco, but mostly with 
texts from the Kur-an (which form long friezes, having a pleasing 
effect), and never with the representation of anything that has 
life. The pavement is covered with matting, and rich and poor 
pray side by side ; the man of rank or wealth enjoying no pecu- 
liar distinction or comfort, unless (which is sometimes the case) 
he has a prayer-carpet brought by his servant and spread for 
him. 

"The large mosques are open from daybreak till a little after 
the 'eshe, or till nearly two hours after sunset. The others are 
closed between the hours of morning and noon prayers ; and 
most mosques are also closed in rainy weather (except at the 
times of prayer), lest persons who have no shoes should enter, 
and dirty the pavement and matting. Such persons always enter 
by the door nearest the tank or fountain (if there be more than 
one door), that they may wash before they pass into the place of 
prayer ; and generally this door alone is left open in dirty 
weather. The mosque El-Azhar remains open all night with the 
exception of the principal place of prayer, which is called the 
* maksoorah,' being partitioned off from the rest of the building. 
In many of the large mosques, particularly in the afternoon, per- 
sons are seen lounging, chatting together, eating, sleeping, and 
sometimes spinning or sewing, or engaged in some other simple 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 30I 

craft ; but notwithstanding such practices, which are contrary to 
the precepts of their prophet, the Muslims very highly respect 
their mosques. There are several mosques in Cairo (as the 
Azhar, Hassaneyn, etc.) before which no Frank, nor any other 
Christian, nor a Jew, were allowed to pass, till of late years, since 
the French invasion. 

" The principal bazaars of Cairo are the Ghoreeyah and Khan 






THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT. 



Khaleel. The former is called from Sultan el Ghoree, whose 
mosque and tomb terminate and embellish one of its extremities. 
There cottons and other stuffs, silks, fez caps, and various articles 
are sold; and in the Khan Khaleel cloth, dresses, swords, silks, 
slippers, and embroidered stuffs are the principal articles. The 
two market days at the latter bazaar are Monday and Thursday, 
the sale continuing from about 9 to 11. Various goods are sold 
by auction, the appraisers, or delldrs, carrying them through the 
market, and calling the price bid for them. Many things may be 
bought at reasonable prices on these occasions ; and it is an 
amusing scene to witness from a shop. Crowds of people throng 
the bazaar, while the delldrs wade through the crowd, carrying 
drawn swords, fly-flaps, silk dresses, chain armor, amber mouth- 
pieces, guns, and various heterogeneous substances." 



302 AROUND THE WORLD. 

During their stay in Cairo General Grant and his party made 
the usual visit to the Pyramids. The distance from Cairo to the 
Pyramids is six miles in an air line, but is much greater by the 
road. 

" The Pyramids seem equally large at a distance of six miles 
as at one. Arrived at the base of the great Pyramid of Cheops, 
and seeing the enormous size of the masses of stone of which it 
is composed, the sense of awe produced by these edifices is still 
farther increased. 

" In addition to the three great Pyramids here, there are three 
small ones standing beside Cheops, and three small ones beside 
the third. The second and third are surrounded by traces of 
square enclosures, and are approached through enormous masses 
of ruins, as if of some great temple, while the first is enclosed on 
three sides by long rows of massive tombs. 

" By an examination of the smooth casing of the top of the 
second Pyramid, and the magnificent granite blocks which form 
the lower stages of the third, we can imagine what they must all 
have been from top to bottom. The highly polished granite 
blocks which we see in the interior of the great Pyramid were no 
doubt the same material which composed its casing, and that the 
whole was covered with sculptures. In the distance we see the 
groups of Abou-Sir, Sakkara, and Dashur. In short, the whole 
country seems a vast cemetery, which extends all along the 
western ridge for twenty miles behind Memphis. 

" Cheops, or the Great Pyramid, stands farthest north, and is 
the one usually ascended and entered by travellers. It is j8o feet 
high, rising from a base which measures 764 feet each way, and 
which covers eleven acres of ground ! It is estimated that Cheops 
had employed 100,000 men for ten years to make the causeway 
from the Nile to the Pyramid for the purpose of conveying the 
stone, and 360,000 men twenty years to build the monument ! 
To have some conception of the immense size of this Pyramid, 
it is well to remember that the tower of Strasbourg, the highest 
in Europe, is but 462 feet in height, and the cupola of St. Peter's 
in Rome 429 feet. 

" Dr. Lepsius states, after his numerous researches in regard 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 303 

to the Pyramids, that their construction began in the centre and 
was developed externally, after the manner of sapwood in trees. 
Thus a pyramid of medium size was first constructed, and suc- 
cessive layers were then added to it, each layer measuring six- 
teen or eighteen feet in thickness, and increasing the pyramid in 
size and elevation. To understand this, it must be remembered 
that each prince of the ancient monarchy, immediately after his 
ascension to the throne, began the construction of a pyramidical 
tomb, but always of moderate proportions, to insure its achieve- 
ment in case of his death. So lono- as the reien continued, how- 
ever, new layers were gradually added, so that the size of a 
pyramid depended on the length of the monarch's reign. Thus 
it may be understood why some are of such immense propor- 
tions, while others remain still in an embryo state. On the death 
of the kings, the Pyramids were enveloped in hard-polished 
stones, which hid the gradations of the stones, and covered, at 
the same time, the entrance to the gallery leading to the sepul- 
chral chamber. This explanation is justified by well-known facts 
posterior to the monarchy, as the tombs in Upper Egypt present 
the same peculiarity. 

" The sheik at the Pyramids furnishes two Arab guides to help 
to make the ascent; exercise yourself as little as possible; make 
them do all the work ; each guide will take you by a hand ; when 
half way up, there is a hollow in the corner of the Pyramid 
where you may rest, and where your guides will indirectly indi- 
cate your life is in their hands, and directly demand backsheesh. 
You having to pay the sheik one dollar for their services, will you 
refuse as directed ? No ! nine chances out of ten you give them 
something, as you know a little slip, and where would you be ? 
Well, you give them some backsheesh ; when you get to the top 
they will shout and jump, and clap you on the back, feel your 
legs, and 'good massar,' 'strong massar,' 'gi mi backsheesh.' 
Then you ' take something' feel good, look down at the glorious 
landscape spread before you, and — gi em backsheesh, and the 
chances are, while you are in the queen's or king's chamber, or 
down the well, they get something more from you. If you tell 
them, when you get through with them you will give them some- 
thing, they will tell you, ' the sheik will take it away if he sees.' 



304 AROUND THE WORLD. 

" The summit is a platform about thirty-two feet square, but was 
formerly much smaller before the layer which hid the gradations 
was employed by the caliphs in the construction of Cairo. The 
view from the top is very fine. Before you may be seen the Nile 
winding its way through a carpet of verdure, on which are scat- 
tered the villages of Ghizeh, Fostat, and Boulak, and farther on 
rises Cairo with its minarets. 

"The entrance to the Pyramids is invariably on the northern 
side. In the Great Pyramid we enter and descend through the 
gallery at an angle of twenty-five degrees until we arrive at a 
large block of granite which obstructs the passage. Up one side 
of this we are helped by the attending Arabs, and continue in 
another gallery, which rises at about the same angle that the other 
declined. The length of this rising corridor is about 1 1 3 feet, at 
the end of which it is much enlarged, and divides into two gal- 
leries. One of these is horizontal, and leads to the Chamber of 
the Queen. Returning to the point where the paths divide, a 
large opening may be seen on one side, called the Well ; it was 
formerly a gallery of communication with a lower corridor, but is 
now partially closed. Of the two galleries which we have just 
mentioned, the second is called the Grand Gallery, and rises to 
the centre of the Pyramid, until it reaches a vestibule leading to 
the Chamber of the Sarcophagus. Here the royal remains were 
deposited. The sarcophagus, of red granite, still remains, but 
relic-hunters have proved too much for it ; it is fast disappearing 
under their vandal touch. 'Tis said that Mehemet Ali remarked 
that, when Europeans were censuring the Turks for their ignor- 
ance in destroying so many relics of antiquity, they set a very 
bad example to those of whom they complain. 

" The second Pyramid was built by Sen-Saophis, son of Cheops 
or Saophis, 2083 years B. C. Its base is 690 feet square and 447 
high. It was first opened in the year 1 200 by the Sultan El- 
Aziz-Othman, son of Saladin. An inscription to that effect may 
be found in the sepulchral chamber; the entrance was closed, 
however, immediately afterward. Belzoni was the first who, in 
1 81 6, discovered the gallery leading to the central cave, but the 
sarcophagus then contained nothing but earth. On the upper 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 305 

portion of this pyramid, the outer covering of polished stones 
still remains, making it very difficult of ascent. 

" The third Pyramid, built by Mencheres, is 333 feet square at 
the base and 203 feet high. This Pyramid, like the second, was 
opened and shut in the time of the caliphs. Colonel Wyse was 
the first to re-explore the interior in 1837. There is but one 
chamber in this Pyramid, in which was found a stone sarcophagus: 
this was lost in a vessel going to England ; but a wooden coffin 
and a mummy found in the passage leading to the chamber are 
now in the British Museum. 

" A short distance from the Pyramids is the Sphinx — as much 
greater than all other sphinxes as the Pyramids are greater than 
all other tombs. It is now so covered with sand that the only 
human part — the head and body — are visible. The whole figure 
is cut out of the solid rock with the exception of the forepaws, 
and worked smooth. The cap, or royal helmet of Egypt, has 
been removed, but the shape of the top of the head explains how 
it was arranged. The Sphinx was a local deity of the Egyptians, 
and was treated by all in former times with divine honors. Im- 
mediately under his breast an altar stood, and the smoke of the 
sacrifice went up into the gigantic nostrils, now vanished from his 
face. The size of the Sphinx, as given by Pliny, is, height 143 
feet; circumference round the forehead, 102 feet. The paws of 
the leonine part extended 50 feet in front." 

The Khedive placed a government steamer at the service of 
General Grant, for the Nile voyage, and after a few days' stay in 
Cairo, the party began the ascent of the famous river. 

"On Wednesday, the 16th of January," says Mr. Young in his 
letter to the Nezv York Herald, " we embarked on the Nile. As 
the hour of noon passed the drawbridge opened, farewells were 
said to the many kind friends who had gathered on the banks, 
and we shot away from our moorings, and out into the dark 
waters of the mighty and mysterious stream. One cannot resist 
the temptation of writing about the Nile, yet what can a writer 
say in telling the old, old story of a journey through these lands 
of romance and fable ! The Khedive has placed at the disposal 
of the General one of his steam vessels, and she swings out into 



2,o6 



AROUND THE WORLD. 



the stream with the American flag at the fore. We have all been 
in a bustle and a hurry to get away. There was the leaving the 
palace, the massing of bundles, the command of the impedimenta. 
We were alert for the trip, and we had been feeding our imagina- 
tions with visions of Eastern life, with visions of the faded but 
glorious remnants of the ancient civilization. We bought each a 
Turkish fez, and some of us ventured upon the luxury of an 

Indian hat. Others went into col- 
ored spectacles, and the Marquis, 
a far-seeing man, who had been on 
the Nile and who was not in the 
best of spirits at leaving a palace 
to float for weeks between Arab 
villages, appeared with an aston- 
ishing umbrella. We had many 
friends to see us off — General 
Stone, Judge Batcheller, and Judge 
Barringer, with their wives, Gen- 
eral Lorinof, and others. There 
were radiant mounds of flowers as 
remembrances to Mrs. Grant, and 
as much leave-taking as though 
we were bound from New York 
to Liverpool. Some one makes 
this suggestion, when the observa- 
tion is made that we are about to 
undertake a journey as long as from New York to Liverpool and 
return. The General sits in a corner with Stone and Loring, 
talking about old days in the army, and making comments upon 
famed and illustrious names that the historian would welcome if 
I could only dare to gather up the crumbs of this interesting con- 
versation. At noon the signal for our journey is given and fare- 
wells are spoken, and we head under full steam for the Equator. 
"Our party is thus composed: We have the General, his wife, 
and his youngest son, Jesse. The Khedive has assigned us an 
officer of his household, Sami Bey, a Circassian gentleman edu- 
cated in England. Sami Bey is one of the heroes of our trip, 




ISMAIL, EX-KHEDIVE OF EGYPT. 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 307 

and we soon came to like him, Moslem as he is, for his quaint, 
cordial, kindly ways. I suppose we should call Sami Bey the 
executive officer of the expedition, as to him all responsibility is 
given. We have also with us, thanks to the kindness of the 
Khedive, Emile Brugsch, one of the directors of the Egyptian 
Museum. Mr. Brugsch is a German, brother to the chief 
director, who has made the antiquities of Egypt a study. Mr. 
Brugsch knows every tomb and column in the land. He has 
lived for weeks in the temples and ruins, superintending excava- 
tions, copying inscriptions, deciphering hieroglyphics, and his 
presence with us is an advantage that cannot be overestimated, 
for it is given to him to point with his cane and unravel mystery 
after mystery of the marvels engraved on the stones and rocks, 
while we stand by in humble and listening wonder. ' What a 
blank our trip would be without Brugsch ! ' said the General, one 
day as we were coming back from a ruin — a ruin as absolute and 
meanino-less as the Aztec mounds in New Mexico, but which our 
fine young friend had made as luminous as a page in Herodotus. 
The Consul-General, E. E. Farman, formerly editor of The 
Western New-Yorker, is also of our party, and I have already 
spoken of the pleasant impression he made upon General Grant 
in Cairo. The General had so agreeable a time with the good 
boys of the ' Vandalia ' that he asked Commander Robeson to 
come and bring with him as many of his officers as could be 
spared. He was anxious to have Robeson, and all kinds of 
schemes and persuasions were invented to secure him. When 
the gracious commands of the lady of our expedition were put 
upon him the commander paused, and I think for one whole 
evening he had resolved to go up the Nile. But the morning 
came, and it brought the cold fact that the commander had a ship 
to command, and that it was his duty to command it, and the Nile 
was in no sense a navigable water. So Robeson gave up the 
Nile, and sent three of his officers to accept the General's invita- 
tion — the Chief Surgeon, George H. Cooke, Lieutenant W. A. 
Hadden, and Ensign F. A. Wilner — who, with the writer (in all 
ten), form the party who make this Nile excursion. That is to 
say, we form that fragment of the party who live in the main 



308 AROUND THE WORLD. 

cabin. The Consul-General is accompanied by a kind of 
Arabian Sancho Panza named Hassan. I am afraid it is because 
the Consul-General is tall and thin, and Hassan is short and brown 
and stout, that we call the latter Sancho Panza. However, the 
comparison comes from illustrious lips, and was made one evening 
when our Consul-General and Hassan were coming over the plains 
of Dendoreh, mounted on donkeys. Hassan has been eighteen 
years in the legation. He speaks a ready, expressive, but limited 
English ; wears an Arabian costume, including a cimeter, and is 
proud of two things — first, that he wears a gold American eagle 
mounted on a pin, with which he was decorated by Consul-Gen- 
eral Butler; and second, that he captured John H. Surratt. Has- 
san is a Moslem, the husband of two wives, and believes in Dr. 
Lansing, the missionary, who educates his children. 

"No one ever heard Hassan speak ill of a consul-general. 
For eighteen years he has seen dynasties rise and fall, from De 
Leon to Hale, from Butler to Farman, and he has only good 
words for them all, living and dead. Hassan is proud of his 
mission as a member of the General's party, and walks the deck 
sabred and turbaned like Othello. The Marquis makes no secret 
of the fact that his heart is in our palace'of Kassr-el-Noussa. He 
would gladly have waited there until our return, but I suppose 
it never occurred to the General, and so he paces the deck with 
colored glasses, and an umbrella under his arm, wondering how 
people can go for weeks on a boat, and ride donkeys, and 
wander among dust-heaped ruins, when a palace is in readiness 
and you have only to clap your hands for slaves to answer 
your call. 

"Our boat is called 'Zinet-el-Bohren,' or, as my omniscient 
friend translates it, the Light of Two Rivers. It is a long, nar- 
row steamer, with two cabins, drawing only a few feet of water, 
with a flat-bottomed keel. The Nile is a river of sand and mud, 
and as the bottom is always changing, you must expect to run 
aground every little while and to run off again. This in fact we 
do, and the announcement that we are aground makes about as 
much impression upon us as if a passenger in a Broadway omni- 
bus heard the wheel of his coach interlocking- with another. The 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 309 

Nile boats seem arranged to meet any emergency in the way of 
land — for this river is sprawling, eccentric, comprehensive, with- 
out any special channel — running one way to-day, another next 
day. To know the river, therefore, must be something like 
knowing the temper of a whimsical woman — you must court and 
woo her and wait upon her humors. Navigation is a constant 
seeking after knowledge. We have a captain in a comely uni- 
form, with a clear-cut Arab face, who stands in the middle of the 
boat and shouts. We have two men with poles, who lean over 
the prow and sink their poles in the water, and shout. Then at 
the wheel we have one, or perhaps two steersmen, generally 
fine, grave, swarthy fellows, who do not shout much, but, know- 
ing the river's coquettish ways, do as they please, unmindful of 
the shouting-. For an hour, for two or three hours, we hum 
along with an easy, trembling motion, the smooth, shining river 
lapping our sides, and the low, green banks falling behind us. 
Then we have a tremor, a sidling to one side, and the engines 
stop. This was so serious a business, especially to our seafaring 
friends, that for the first or second time they regarded it as a 
call to quarters or a fire-alarm, but we soon became used to it, 
and running aground hardly interrupted the idlest conversation. 
When evening comes our captain picks out the best point that 
can be found after sunset, and runs up to the land. The crew 
are sent ashore with torches and hammers, posts are driven into 
the soft clay, and we are tied to the shore. There, as if out of 
the earth they come, we have a group of Bedouins in their tur- 
bans, who gather on the river bank and make a bonfire of dried 
sugar-cane or cornstalks, and keep watch over us during the 
night. The first night we tied up, Mr. Grant the younger and 
the writer went ashore, seeking out Hassan to keep us company. 
There was our group of crouching Arabs over the fire, their dark 
features lighting up into a strange but not unimpressive kind of 
beauty. We had been told — I believe all the books written by 
our English friends tell us — that the only way to extract courtesy 
from an Oriental is to beat him, trample him, or at least show 
him the hilt of your dagger or the muzzle of a pistol. The only 
daggers our party possess are the honest table-knives, which 



3IO AROUND THE WORLD. 

some one of the many Mohammed Alis in attendance on our 
party is at this moment most likely scouring. The only pistols 
I can trace are General Grant's and my own. The General, 
however, left his weapon in the bottom of one of his trunks in 
London, and mine is looked upon as a kind of infernal machine, 
dangerous to no one but the owner. However, we treat our 
Arabs with civility, and Hassan supplies them with cigarettes. 
They wish to stand in our honor, but we insist on their taking all 
the comfort possible out of their modest, crackling fire. They 
tell us their names, Mohammed one thine and Mohammed 
another. They have only one wife each, and live in the neigh- 
boring village. They have a sheik, and he sent them hither to 
watch over the hadji. Times are hard with them. The Nile has 
been bad, and when the Nile is bad, calamity comes, and the 
people go away to other villages. We did not like to talk pol- 
itics with them, because we feared that Hassan, who is an ad- 
mirer and friend of the Khedive, might limit the tendencies of 
our inquiries and give only barren answers. They said, how- 
ever, they would sit over us all night and keep us from harm. I 
have no doubt they were sound asleep, burrowed near the cin- 
ders, long before any one of our party had retired, except perhaps 
the Doctor, whose habits are exemplary, and who sets us an 
example of early hours. 

"There can be no more interesting, and, I am afraid, perilous 
experiment than to put ten human beings on a boat for three 
weeks and bid them enjoy themselves. I looked around the boat 
with a little curiosity as we came in, and began to adjust our- 
selves to the conditions of our trip. There are two things that 
try friendship — getting married and travelling together. You 
have to dovetail, to make and receive compromises. Questions 
of coffee and tea and chocolate, of breakfast and luncheon, of 
amusement and conversation, enter into travel. There is the 
passenger who is never quite well, the passenger whose health is 
a reflection upon others, the passenger who worries about the 
engines and the mails, the passenger who cannot stand the sea 
cooking, and compares every dish with a famous dinner he once 
enjoyed at Delmonico's. Then there is the exasperating passen- 






EGYPT AND THE NILE. 3 1 I 

ger, who contradicts everybody and is ready to wager. Our 
little party developed none of these eccentricities. So far as the 
daily and hourly rubbing together was concerned, nothing came 
to mar our harmony. We adjusted ourselves to the General's 
modes of life ; and as these were of the simplest and most con- 
siderate character, it involved no sacrifice. We live in a cluster 
of small rooms around the cabin. My own little room has a 
window within a few inches of the water. I have only to put out 
my hand to feel the cooling sense of the stream. It is a wonder 
how much you can do with a room not much larger than an ordi- 
nary sideboard. Clothing and books find rest in odd kinds of 
places. You sleep with your brushes and combs. 

" We breakfast whenever we please — in the French fashion. 
The General is an early or late riser, according as we have an 
engagement for the day. If there are ruins to be seen in the 
morning he is generally first on the deck with his Indian helmet 
swathed in silk, and as he never waits we are off on military 
time. If there are no sights to be seen the morning hours drift 
away. We lounge on the deck. We go among the Arabs and 
see them cooking. We lean over the prow and watch the sailors 
poke the Nile with long poles and call out the message from its 
bed. Sometimes a murderous feeling steals over some of the 
younger people, and they begin to shoot at a stray crane or 
pelican. I am afraid these shots do not diminish the resources 
of the Nile, and the General suggests that the sportsmen go 
ashore and fire at the poor, patient, drudging camel, who pulls 
his heavy-laden hump along the bank. There are long pauses 
of silence, in which the General maintains his long-conceded 
supremacy. Then come little ripples of real, useful conversation, 
when the General strikes some theme connected with the war or 
his administration. Then one wishes that he might gather up 
and bind these sheaves of history. Or perhaps our friend 
Brugsch opens upon some theme connected with Egypt. And 
we sit in grateful silence while he tells us of the giants who 
reigned in the old dynasties, of the gods they honored, of the 
tombs and temples, of their glory and their fall. I think that we 
will all say that the red-letter hours of our Nile journey were 



312 AROUND THE WORLD. 

when General Grant told us how he met Lee at Appomattox, or 
how Sherman fought at Shiloh, or when Brugsch, in a burst of 
fine enthusiasm, tells us of the glories of the eighteenth dynasty, 
or what Karnak must have been in the days of its splendors and 
its pride. But you must not suppose that we have nothing but, 
serious talk in those idle hours on the Nile. Hadden sometimes 
insists that Sami Bey shall become a Christian, and offers to have 
subscriptions raised in the churches at home for his conversion, 
and this generally superinduces a half-serious, half-laughing con- 
versation, in which our Moslem friend shows how firmly he be- 
lieves in the Prophet, and how it is that an accomplished and 
widely travelled man of the world may see all the virtues of 
faith in the faith of Islam. 

" Sometimes a dahabeeah sweeps in sight, and we rush for the 
glasses. The dahabeeah is an institution on the Nile, a cum- 
brous, quaint-sailing machine, with a single bending spar like the 
longest side of a right-angle triangle. The dahabeeah, although 
a boat with sailing qualities, might really be called a suit of float- 
ing apartments. You take your dahabeeah for two or three 
months. You supply yourself with the luxuries of Cairo. You 
hire a dragoman, a crew of Arabs. If you like books you have 
your small library. If you like sport you have your guns. You 
steal off in the morning- and shoot the wild duck. You lounge 
and read. If you have no wind you lie in the river and watch 
the idle flapping of the sail and the crowd of black and brown 
fellahs howling for backsheesh. You enjoy your life, or you fancy 
you enjoy it, which is the same thing. We met several friends 
on the way. The first we overhauled was Mr. Drexel, and he 
came on board as brown as Sitting Bull, having a glorious time, 
but not above hearing about home. Then we boarded another, 
under the impression that it was an American, and found that we 
had fallen upon a hospitable English cousin, who had been dawd- 
ling about waiting for the wind. His first question was as to the 
health of the Pope, which was answered by telling of Victor 
Emmanuel's death. Then we came across Mr. and Mrs. How- 
land, enjoying their honeymoon on the Nile, but anxious for 
news from home. Home ! Yes, that is the blessed magic word 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 313 

which all the glory of the Orient cannot obscure. This witching 
life only heightens the dear memories of far America. I wonder 
if the third month, or let us even say the second month, does not 
hang wearily upon our friends in the dahabeeah. You see we are 
coming by steam, swift from the living world, laden with news ; 
'and when our friends ask with almost the eagerness of thirst for 
some drop of news from the world behind, you wonder how time 
must hang upon active minds the third month on the Nile. 

"When the sun throws his shadow over the desert, and the 
white desert sands assume a browner hue, and the plodding 
camels pass like shadows over the horizon and pant with the 
long day's burden, our sailors begin to look out for the shore. 
The Arab mariner loves the shore, and has no fancy for the 
night. It may be the evil eye, which has a singular influence in 
all Eastern deliberations. It may be that we are not in much of 
a hurry, and the river is not to be depended upon. By the time 
the twilight comes we have reached a convenient place, and our 
boat hugs up snugly beside the shore. Stakes are driven into 
the soft clay banks, rude steps are cut in the side, if it is precip- 
itous, and very soon we have the gray-headed sheik, with his 
followers, coming to watch over us. Then comes the clatter of 
cooking and supper, the crew sitting around a large dish and 
helping themselves with their fingers. We have two or three 
devout Moslems among our crew, who go ashore to pray. The 
steersman, who wears a turban and a white flowing robe, is the 
pattern of piety. He takes his woollen mantle about him. He 
steps down to the brink and washes his feet, his hands, and his 
forehead. Then he lays his mantle upon the ground and looks 
toward Mecca. He stands, and holding his hands in front, with 
the finger-tips touching, makes a low bow, a stately, slow bow, 
his body bending almost into a right angle. He rises again, 
standing erect, murmuring his prayer — that there is no God but 
God, and Mohammed is his prophet. He prostrates himself on 
the earth, kisses it, and rising stands erect again. The prostra- 
tion takes place two or three times; the prayer is over; the 
faithful Moslem gathers his garment over his shoulders and 
comes back to the boat and supper. When our dinner is over 



314 AROUND THE WORLD. 

we have coffee on the deck, where we sit and talk. If we are 
near a village, some of the younger ones go ashore. In a few 
minutes we know by the barking of the dogs that they have 
invaded the quiet homes of an Egyptian community. Hassan 
generally goes along on these expeditions; but the precaution 
has not been of any value thus far. The villages are sleepy 
enough and the villagers are quiet as possible. The children 
peer at you through the straw, the elder ones come clamoring 
for backsheesh, and there is sure to be a blind old soul to crave 
charity in the house of the most merciful God. You pass along 
through streets not more than a few feet wide, with dogs in 
the front and rear, and dogs barking from the roofs of the low 
mud huts thatched with straw. One or two of these expeditions 
generally satisfies even the most enterprising of our party; for 
Egyptian villages are, as far as I have seen, about the same. 
While some of us are ashore seeking adventure, and the others 
are clustered on the deck, chatting about friends and home and 
the incidents of the day, our sailors gather in a circle and we 
have Arab music. I cannot claim any knowledge of music, al- 
though many of my most pleasant memories are associated with 
its influence. This music of the Arabs is a school of its own, 
which I would defy even the genius of Wagner to embody. I 
have often thought that the spirit of a people is expressed in its 
music as much as in its literature and laws. The music of our 
Northern nations always seemed to ring with the sense of 
strength and victory. I remember how the music of the South- 
ern slaves was a strange contrast to the fiery strains of their 
masters. There was a low, plaintive key in it that spoke of sad- 
ness, despair, degradation ; that was more a moan and cry than 
a harmony. I fancied I heard the same plaintive cry in the music 
of the Arabs. 

"There is one thing whose enjoyment never ceases, at least 
with the writer — the beauty of the atmosphere and the sky. 
Sleep with me is so coy a dame, not always to be won by the 
most gentle and persistent wooing, that I am alive to all the in- 
cidents of the vessel. Before sunrise you hear the ropes released 
from the shore struggling back to the ship. You see the torches 




(3i5) 



310 AROUND THE WORLD. 

flashing up and down the bank, noting the preparations for 
departure. I sleep with my cheek almost against the wide 
window pane, almost on the level of the stream, and if I am 
weary of dreaming or of seeking for dreams, I have only to open 
my eyes to see the heavens in all their glory, the stars and con- 
stellations — to see them again, as it were, embossed on the dark- 
brown river. You hear the cries of the sailors at their posts, 
and answering cries from the shore, and the boat pulls herself 
together like a strong- man gathering for a race, and we are 
away. You throw open your window and put your hand in the 
water, and feel the current play with your fingers with almost 
the old delight of childhood. The morning comes over the 
sands, and you watch the deep blue of the night melt into prim- 
rose and pearl. The brown sands of the desert become pale 
again, and the groves of date palms become palms in truth, and 
not the fancies that almost startle you during the night. In the 
early morning it is cool, and it is noon before the sun asserts 
his power, and even then it is not a harsh dominion, for we have 
known no hour as yet when we could not walk up and down the 
deck in our fall garments without discomfort. Throughout the 
day there is that same open sky, the same clear atmosphere 
which makes far-distant objects as near as you find them in 
Colorado. Sometimes you see, with wonder, in the very heart 
of the desert grateful streams of water, skirted with palm and 
sheltered by hills. This is the mirage — one of the most frequent 
phenomena on the Nile. Sometimes a battalion of clouds will 
come from the east and marshal themselves from horizon to 
horizon, and the sight is rare, indeed, and you cannot know, you 
who live in the land of clouds and storm, what beauty they 
conceal. 

"On the morning of the 19th of January, that being the third 
day of our journey, we came to the town of Siout, or Assiout, as 
some call it. We have a vice-consul here, and tokens of our 
coming had been sent, as could be seen by the flags which deco- 
rated the bank and the crowd on the shore. Siout is the capital 
of Upper Egypt, and is a city of 25,000 inhabitants. The city is 
some distance back from the river, and grew into importance as 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 317 

the depot of much of the caravan trade from Darfour. Upon 
arriving, the vice-consul and his son came on board and were 
presented to the General. Congratulations were exchanged, 
and we offered our friends coffee and cigars in the true Oriental 
style. The name of our consul here is Wasif el Hayat. He 
is a Syrian and a landed proprietor. He is a grave elderly per- 
son, who speaks only Arabic, but his son had been educated in 
Beyrout, at the mission schools, and knew English. We all 
drove to the town. It was over parched fields, through a country 
that in more favorable years would bloom like a garden. But 
the Nile is bad this year, and a bad Nile is a calamity second only 
to a famine in Egypt. We rode into the town and through the 
bazaars. All the town seemed to know of our coming, for wher- 
ever we went crowds swarmed around us, and we had to force 
our donkeys through masses of Arabs and Egyptians of all ages 
and conditions, some almost naked — crowds crying for backsheesh 
or pressing articles of merchandise upon us. The bazaars are 
narrow covered ways, covered with matting or loose boards, 
enough to break the force of the sun. The stores are little cub- 
byholes of rooms, in front of which the trader sits and calls upon 
you to buy. As these avenues are not more than six feet wide 
at best, you can imagine what a time we had in making our pro- 
gress. The town had some fine houses and mosques, but in the 
main it was like all towns in Upper Egypt, a collection of mud 
hovels. We rode beyond the town to the tombs built in the 
sand, and climbed the limestone rock on our donkeys. This was 
our first evidence of the manner of sepulture in the olden time. 
These desert rocks of limestone were tunnelled and made into 
rooms, and here the mummied dead found rest. The chambers 
appointed for them were large and spacious, according to the 
means of the deceased. In some that we entered there was a 
chamber, an ante-chamber, and sometimes connecting chambers. 
There were inscriptions on the walls, but they had been defaced. 
The early Christians had deemed it their duty to obey the first 
commandment by removing the representatives of the gods that 
came in their way. The ceilings of the tombs had been once 
decorated, but modern Christians have deemed it their duty to 



31 8 AROUND THE WORLD. 

deface them by firing pistol-shots. When you visit a tomb and 
note the blue stars and astronomical forms that the ancients 
painted with so much care, it is so cunning to try the echo by 
firing your pistol. Consequently the roofs are spotted with 
bullet-marks. Here also came the wanderers for shelter, and 
you see what the fires have done. What the tombs may have 
been in the past, when they came fresh from pious, loving hands, 
vou can imagine. But what with ancient Christian iconoclasts, 
modern Christian wanderers, Bedouins, Arabs, selling the graves 
for ornaments, nothing remains but empty limestone rooms filling 
with sand and a few hieroglyphic memorials on the walls. 

"We were bidden to an entertainment at the home of Wasif 
el Hayat, and, seven being the hour, we set forth. We were all 
anxious about our first Arab entertainment, and after some de- 
liberation our naval men concluded to wear their uniforms. The 
Doctor rode ahead, in the carriage with General and Mrs. Grant 
and the consul-general. As the Doctor wore his uniform and 
the others were in plain dress, he was welcomed by the awe- 
stricken Moslems as the King of America. Hadden and the rest 
of us rode behind on our trusty and well-beloved donkeys, Had- 
den in uniform, followed by wondering crowds. I suppose he 
was taken for a minor potentate, as, in the Oriental eyes, all that 
lace and gold could not be wasted on anything less than princely 
rank. But we all had more or less attention, although we could 
feel that the uniforms were the centre of glory, and that we shone 
with borrowed splendor. As we came to the house of Wasif el 
Hayat, we found a real transformation scene. Lanterns lined 
the street, servants stood on the road holding blazing torches, a 
transparency was over the gate with the words, 'Welcome 
General Grant.' The 'n' was turned upside down, but that 
made no difference, for the welcome here in far Africa made the 
heart throb quicker. As we rode up, torches blazed, rockets 
went up into the air, various colored lights were burned, and we 
passed into the court-yard glowing with light and color, passing 
into the house over carpets and rugs of heavy texture and gor- 
geous pattern. Our host met us at the gates of his house, and 
welcomed us in the stately Oriental way, kissing the General's 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 319 

hand as he clasped it in his two hands, and then touching his own 
heart, lips and brow. Here we met the governor, and, more 
welcome still, the Rev. I. R. Alexander and his wife. Mr. Alex- 
ander is one of the professors in the missionary college, and is 
under the direction of the United Presbyterian Church. The 
dinner came, and it was regal in its profusion and splendor. I 
should say there were at least twenty courses, all well served. 
When it was concluded, the son of the host arose, and in remark- 
ably clear and correct English proposed the General's health. 
The speech closed by a tribute to the General and the Khedive. 
General Grant said in response that nothing in his whole trip 
had so impressed him as this unexpected, this generous welcome 
in the heart of Egypt. He had anticipated great pleasure in his 
visit to Egypt, and the anticipation had been more than realized. 
He thanked his host, and especially the young man who had 
spoken of him with so high praise, for their reception. The din- 
ner dissolved into coffee, conversation and cigars. Mrs. Grant 
had a lone talk with Mrs. Alexander about home — Mrs. Alex- 
ander being a fair young bride who had come out from America 
to cast her lot with her husband in the unpromising vineyard of 
Siout. And when the evening grew on, we rode back to our 
boat, through the night and over the plain. Torch-bearers ac- 
companied us through the town. Donkey-boys and townspeople 
followed us to the river bank. The moon was shining, and as 
we rode home — you see we already call the boat our home — we 
talked over the pleasant surprise we had found in Siout and of 
its many strange phases of Oriental life. 

"On the 2 1 st of January we hauled up to the bank in the 
town of Giro-el. We found Admiral Steadman and Mr. Davis, 
of Boston, moored in their dahabeeah, and they repeated the 
same story that we heard all along the Nile, that they had had 
a good time, a splendid time, could not have had a better time. 
It seems that their dahabeeah had run aground, and the admiral 
came out in fine old quarter-deck form and gave all the orders 
necessary to save the vessel. But after he had given the orders 
as became a veteran sailor who had battled with tempests in 
every part of the world, it was discovered that the crew were 



320 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Arabs, and did not understand a word of English, and probably 
thought that the admiral's vigorous forms of speech were a kind 
of devotion — a manner of worshipping common only to the infidel. 
So the admiral's vessel had to save itself, and we had our own 
fun out of the narrative as we sat on the deck over our coffee, 
and watched the Arabs crouching over the fire. The admiral 
and Mr. Davis spent a part of the evening with us ; but just as 
the talk was in full tide the dragoman came on board with 
word that there was a rising wind. Those who sail in the daha- 
beeah must take the wind when it comes, and so our welcome 
guests hurried away, and in a few minutes were speeding up the 
stream. 

"It was rather a long distance from our landing place to 
Abydos, and Sami Bey had given orders that we should be 
ready at eight for our journey. I am afraid it was quite an 
effort for some of the party, whose names shall be withheld, to 
heed this command. But the General was first on deck, and 
very soon came Mrs. Grant eager and smiling. And as the 
General waits for no one, those who were late had to hurry 
their breakfasts, and some of them were skurrying up the side of 
the bank with a half-eaten biscuit. There were our Arabs and 
donkeys all waiting, and the moment our company began to 
muster there was a chorus of screams — ' Good donkey,' ' Good- 
morning,' ' Backsheesh,' and other limited forms of speech. The 
donkeys charged upon us in a mass, each owner screaming out 
the merits of his animal. It was only by vigorous efforts on the 
part of Hassan that we could see and select our animals. Hassan 
had given me a private bit of information as to which donkey I 
should select, and I found myself the master of a little mite of a 
creature, scarcely high enough to keep my feet from the ground, but 
vigorous and strong, and disposed to stop and bray for the amuse- 
ment of the company. Hadden' s experience with donkeys had made 
him circumspect, and the General advised him to select as small an 
animal as possible, or, as a precautionary measure, to the end that 
a valuable life should be saved to the navy, that he should tie 
himself on its back. The General himself had a horse placed at 
his disposal by the Pacha who rules the district, but he rode the 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 32 1 

animal with a protest, as it had a shambling gait, and wished that 
courtesy to his host did not prevent his taking a donkey. The 
Marquis had some difficulty in pleasing himself, and when at last 
he set out with an umbrella under his arm and his eyes shaded 
with sombre spectacles, the suggestion was made that he was a 
Methodist colporteur on a journey of preaching. But there was 
a gleam of satisfaction in his noble face as he informed us that a 
couple of camels had gone up from the town laden with refresh- 
ments, and that we should have breakfast in the temple. As I 
have already hinted, the Marquis has no enthusiasm for ruins, 
especially Egyptian ruins, while he has positive and valuable 
views about breakfast. So in time we were off over the country 
for Abydos. The fields were cracked, and the ditches, which in 
good times would carry irrigating streams, were dry. Each of us 
had two Arabs for an escort, and the duty of these attendants 
seemed to be to encourage the beast by a sound something be- 
tween a whisper and a hiss, or shouting or beating him. I rather 
think the beating did not amount to much, for these people 
love their animals and live with them, and make them com- 
panions and friends. But the lady of our expedition would not 
endure the stick, and we were halted, and Hassan was sum- 
moned and told to say to the attendants that they must not beat 
the donkeys or they would have no backsheesh, not a farthing. 
There could be no more fearful punishment than this, and there 
was no more beating. But the Arabs had their satisfaction in 
kneeling and running at your side and seeking a conversation. 
Their observations became monotonous. 'Good donkey,' 'My 
name Mohammed,' ' My name Ali,' ' Good donkey,' ' Yankee 
Doodle,' ' Good-morning,' ' Good donkey.' Others came with 
bits of scarabei and bits of ancient pottery, fragments of mummy 
lids and shreds of mummy cloth, to drive a trade. I was on the 
point of making a moral observation upon the character of a 
people who would rifle the tombs of their ancestors and make 
merchandise of their bones and grave-ornaments, when it oc- 
curred to me that these were Arabs, and descended, not from 
the Egyptians, but from the men who conquered the Egyptians 
and occupied their land. I hope it is not against the laws of 



32 2 AROUND THE WORLD. 

war for a conquering race to sell the bones of those they have 
defeated, for our Arabs were so poor and wretched that no one 
could grudge them any means of earning a piaster. This run- 
ning trade continues all the way, and in time you become used 
to it. You become used to the noises, the conversation, the en- 
treaties to buy, and ride on unconscious, or, if anything, amused 
with your Arab, who is generally an amusing, good-natured 
scamp, of wonderful endurance, and anxious to please. I be- 
came quite friendly with my Mohammed Ali, who had two Eng- 
lish phrases with which he constantly plied me — 'I am serene,' 
and ' Yankee Doodle.' The latter phrase was the name of his 
donkey, and I was about to thank him for this kind recognition 
of my country when Hassan, from whom I draw great stores of 
information, told me that they had a variety of names — English, 
French, German, Italian — which they used according to the 
nationality of their riders. I had no doubt that my present 
plodding Yankee Doodle had done duty as Bismarck, MacMahon, 
and the Prince of Wales. 

" Our journey was through a country that in a better time must 
have been a garden ; but the Nile not having risen this year all 
is parched and barren. Abydos was built on the edge of the 
Libyan Desert, and the road to the great oasis leads to it over the 
mountains. The old Egyptians were practical in this respect, 
that not having land to spare they built their tombs and temples 
in the sand, and kept their narrow, fertile lands for corn. They 
could worship their gods in the sand, they could sleep in the sand; 
but corn and onions needed all the parsimonious Nile would give. 
We kept on over a series of irrigating ditches, over sandhills, 
over roads that had not been mended within the memory of man. 
My first impression was to hold my animal well in hand and guide 
him, keep from going over his head into a ditch, and show him 
the safest paths. But I soon learned the elementary lesson in 
donkey riding — namely, that your animal knows more about the 
subject than you can teach him, and that you had better discharge, 
your mind from all care and allow him to go in his own way wher- 
ever Mohammed Ali will lead him. Then if you can make up 
your mind to disengage your feet from the stirrups and let them 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 323 

swing, just as when a boy you used to swing over a gate, you will 
find it easier in the long run. I noticed that those of our party 
who had the most experience of Egypt rode in this fashion, and 
so, while some of our ambitious members who had learned horse- 
manship in the best schools and loved to brace themselves in the 
saddle were anxious about stirrups, I allowed myself to dangle. 
There is another reason for this, as I learned from practical expe- 
rience one day at Assouan. The donkey is apt to fall, for the 
land is full of holes and traps. To fall with your feet in the stir- 
rups might be a serious matter. But when Yankee Doodle took 
it into his head to throw his head upon the ground and his heels 
into the air, it only remained for me to walk from him, as though 
I had risen from a chair, and wait until he came to a better frame 
of mind. 

" ' Here,' said Brugsch, as we dismounted from our donkeys 
and followed him into the ruins of the temple, ' here we should all 
take off our hats, for here is the cradle, the fountain-head of all 
the civilization of the world.' This was a startling statement, but 
Bruesch is a serious gentleman and does not make extravagant 
speeches. Then he told us about Abydos, which lay around us 
in ruins. This was the oldest city in Egypt. It went back to 
Menes, the first of the Egyptian kings, who, according to Brugsch, 
reigned 4,500 years before Christ — centuries before Abraham 
came to Egypt. It is hard to dispute a fact like this, and one of 
the party ventured to ask whether the civilization of China and 
India did not antedate, or claim to antedate, even Abydos. To 
be sure it did, but in China and India you have traditions; here 
are monuments. Here, under the sands that we are crunching 
with our feet, here first flowed forth that civilization which has 
streamed over the world. 

"We follow Brusfsch out of the chamber and from ruined wall 
to wall. The ruins are on a grand scale. Abydos is a temple 
which the Khedive is rescuing from the sand. The city was in 
its time of considerable importance, but this was ages ago, ages 
and ages; so that its glory was dead even before Thebes began 
to reign. Thebes is an old city, and yet I suppose, compared 
with Thebes, Abydos is as much older as one of the buried Aztec 



324 AROUND THE WORLD. 

towns in Central America is older than New York. When the 
temple is all dug out we shall find it to have been a stupendous 
affair; but there are other temples to be seen in better condition, 
and what interests us at Abydos is the city. Here, according to 
^tradition — a tradition which Plutarch partly confirms — was buried 
the god Osiris. The discovery of that tomb will be an event as 
important in Egyptology as even the discovery of America by 
Columbus in his day. In the earliest times it was believed Osiris 
was buried here. To the ancient Egyptians the burial-place of 
that god was as sacred as Mecca is to the Moslems or the Holy 
Sepulchre to the mediaeval Christians. The Government has 
therefore been digging in all directions, and we started after 
Brugsch to see the work. Mrs. Grant rode along on her donkey, 
and the rest of us went in different directions on foot. There had 
been troubles in the neighborhood — riots arising out of the bad 
Nile and taxes. So we had a guard who hovered around us — 
one soldier whom we called, in obedience to the law of physical 
coincidences, Boss Tweed — keeping watch over the General. 
He was a fat and ragged fellow, with a jolly face. It was quite 
a walk to the ruins, and the walk was over hills and ridees of 
burning sand. So the Marquis went to the village to see if the 
camels had come bearing the luncheon — a subject that was of 
more value to his practical mind than the tomb of a dethroned 
deity. It was an interesting walk, to us especially, as it was our 
first real glimpse of the desert and of an ancient city. The 
General and the writer found themselves together climbing the 
highest of the mounds. It was rather an effort to keep our foot- 
ing on the slippery sand. Beneath us was one excavation forty 
or fifty feet deep. You could see the remnants of an old house 
or old tomb ; millions of fragments of broken pottery all around. 
You could see the strata that age after age had heaped upon the 
buried city. The desert had slowly been creeping over it, and in 
some of the strata were marks of the Nile. For years, for 
thousands of years, this mass, which the workmen had torn with 
their spades, had been gathering. The city was really a city of 
tombs. In the ancient days the devout Egyptian craved burial 
near the tomb of Osiris, and so for centuries I suppose their 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 



325 



remains were brought to Abydos from all parts of Egypt. This 
fact gives special value to the excavations, as it gave a special 
solemnity to our view. As we stood on the elevation talking 
about Egypt and the impressions made upon us by our journey, 
the scene was very striking. There was the ruined temple ; here 
were the gaping excavations filled with bricks and pottery. Here 
were our party, some gathering beads and skulls and stones; 
others having a lark with Sami Bey ; others following Mrs. Grant 
as a body-guard as her donkey padded his way along the slopes. 




ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TEMJr^E. 



Beyond, just beyond, were rolling plains of shining sand — shining, 
burning sand — and as the shrinking eye followed the plain and 
searched the hills there was no sign of life ; nothing except per- 
haps some careering hawk hurrying to the river. I have seen no 
scene in Egypt more striking than this view from the mounds of 
Abydos. 

" The sun was beating with continued fierceness, and we kept 
our way to the cluster of trees and the village. The Marquis 
with illuminated eyes informed us that the camels had come and 



326 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the luncheon was ready. We sat around our modest table and 
feasted — feasted in the temple sacred to the memory of Osiris, 
and built by the pious munificence of Sethi, the king who rests 
with God. The walk had given us an appetite and put us all in 
high spirits, and we lunched in merry mood. There were toasts 
to the Khedive, to Sami Bey, to the General, and the invariable 
toast which comes from gracious womanly lips — to friends and 
dear ones at home. Then Brugsch told us of Salib, an Arabian, 
who had been for twenty years working at the excavations. He 
worked with so much diligence that he had become entirely 
blind, and it was now his only comfort to wander about the ruins, 
direct the workmen, and perhaps trace with his finger many a 
loved inscription that his zeal had brought to light. Salib lived 
near the ruin on a pension allowed by the Khedive, and after 
luncheon we called on him and took our coffee in his house. 
The coffee was served on the roof, while some of us, weary with 
the sun, lay under the shadow of the wall and the date trees, and 
others sat about the court-yard smoking, and Brugsch, who never 
misses his chance, improved the shining hour to copy a hiero- 
glyphic inscription. After an hour's rest we went back again 
very much as we came. But the journey was long, the road was 
dusty, and when we saw the flag flying from our boat we were, 
some of us at least, a weary, very weary party. We had ridden 
fifteen miles on donkeys and walked two or three on the sand, 
and the shelter and repose of the cabin was grateful when at last 
it came. 

" Our imaginations had been dwelling all these days on Thebes. 
We read it up and talked about it, and said, 'When we see 
Thebes we shall see one of the wonders of the world.' We 
learned that Thebes was once a city that covered both banks of 
the Nile ; that it was known to Homer as the City of the Hun- 
dred Gates ; that it must have had three hundred thousand in- 
habitants, and that it sent out twenty thousand armed chariots. 
It was famed for its riches and splendor until it was besieged. 
There was the temple of Memnon and the colossal statue which 
used to sing its oracles when the sun rose. Here was to be 
found the palace temple of the great Rameses, the only ruin in 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 2> 2 7 

Egypt known to have been the home of a king. Here we would 
see the columns of Luxor, the twin obelisk to the one now in 
Paris, the stupendous ruins of Karnak, and the tombs of the 
kings. Thebes alone would repay us for our long journeyings; 
and we talked about Sesostris and the Pharaohs in a familiar 
manner, as though they knew we were coming and would be at 
home. And when we became a little hazy on our history, and 
could not get our kings exactly straight, and were not sure 
whether Sesostris was in the nineteenth or the twenty-ninth dy- 
nasty, we always fell back on Brugsch, who knew all the dynas- 
ties and was an ever-running spring of information, and always 
as gentle and willing as he was learned. 

" By the time we approached Thebes we were well out of that 
stage and were well up in our Rameses, and knew all about 
Thebes, the mighty, the magnificent Thebes, the city of a world's 
renown, of which we had been reading and dreaming all these 
years. And as Brugsch, leaning over the rail, talked about 
Thebes, we listened and watched through the clear air for the first 
sign of its glory. There were the mountains beyond, the very 
mountains of which we had read, and there was the plain. But 
where was Thebes ? We looked through our glasses, and saw 
at first only the brown caverned hills, the parched fields, and the 
shining sand. We looked again, and there sure enough were the 
colossal statues of Memnon, two broken pillars, so they seemed, 
with a clump of trees near them. Only the fields, the sand, and 
the hills beyond ; only the same cluster of hovels on the shore 
and the two distant columns. This was all that remained of the 
glory of the city that was the glory of the ancient world. 

" There was one at least in that small company whose imagi- 
nation fell, and who could scarcely believe that so much splendor 
could only be this barren plain. But this is no time for moral 
reflections, as we are coming into the town of Luxor, one frag- 
ment of the old city, and on the shore opposite to Memnon. We 
are coming to the shore, and we see that we have been expected. 
The population of Luxor is on the river bank ; all the consulates 
have their flags flying, and the dahabeeahs, of which there are 
five or six, have their flags up. Right at the landing-place is a 



328 AROUND THE WORLD. 

neat three-storied stone building, painted white, with the Ameri- 
can and Brazilian flags on the roof. The house is all hung with 
boughs of the date palm and decorated with lanterns. Over the 
door there are two American flags, and two soldiers are on 
guard. Evidently Luxor is in great excitement, for as we come 
to the wharf two soldiers on the roof fire six or seven shots frorm 
their muskets. This is our salute, and as soon as the plank is run 
ashore the vice consul comes on board with the governor and 
welcomes the General. Then we go ashore, and call on the vice 
consul. We enter the house and pass over stone floors strewn 
with Turkish and Persian rugs of great value. We pass into the 
best chamber of the house, and we hear another series of musket- 
shots. In this best chamber the host points out a picture of the 
General, which he says, in Arabic, is one of his household gods, 
and that the day which brought the General under his roof will 
ever be a blessed day to him. We noticed also a picture of 
President Hayes. We sat on the divan, and the coffee was 
brought, and after the coffee long pipes. Then, at the request of 
our host, we all went up to the roof of his house, where we had 
a fine view of the country, the country which once shone with the 
magnificence of Thebes, but which is now only a valley between 
two ranges of hills — a valley of sand and parched fields, here and 
there a cluster of hovels called a village, here and there a ruin 
almost hidden from view by the shadows of the descending sun. 
" The town of Luxor, as it is called, is really a collection of 
houses that have fastened upon the ruins of the old temple. 
This temple is near the river, and has a fine facade. It was built 
by Amunoph III. and Rameses II., who reigned between thirteen 
and fifteen hundred years before Christ. I am not very partic- 
ular about the dates, because I have learned that a century or 
two does not make much difference in writing about the Egyptian 
dynasties. In fact the scholars themselves have not agreed upon 
their chronology. The only scholar in whom we have any faith 
is Brugsch, and when he tells us that this temple is much more 
than three thousand years old, we believe him. It is not a very 
old temple as temples go, and Brugsch shows it to us in a matter- 
of-fact way, saying, 'Wait until you see Karnak.' There is a 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 329 

fine obelisk here, the companion of the one now standing in the 
Place de la Concorde at Paris. There is a statue of Rameses, of 
colossal size, now broken and partly buried in the sand. The 
wails are covered with inscriptions of the usual character — the 
glory of the king, his victories, his majesty, his devotion to the 
eods, and the decree of the ^ods that his name will live for mil- 
lions of years. I have no doubt much more could be seen and 
known of this Luxor temple but for modern vandalism. 

" In the morning we made ready for our trip to Memnon, and 
the temple home of Rameses. We set out early in the morning 
— early at least for a party of idle voyagers who do not crave a 
reputation for early rising. We had to cross the river, our boat- 
men sineino- their Arab music. And when we landed on the 
other shore we had, thanks to the forethought of our consul at 
Thebes, a collection of stable donkeys, with a well-mounted horse 
for the General. We were a little time getting under way. 
There was the escort of servino-men with the luncheons on 
camels, who pushed ahead. Then came the General and his 
party. The party was composed of fifteen, as we had with us 
the consul, the governor of the province, the Marquis and Has- 
san. But as every donkey had two donkey-boys, with a couple 
of girls, carrying water on their heads, running at your side — as 
there was a sheik, in stately turban, and five or six soldiers on 
guard — and a crowd crying for backsheesh and offering antiquities 
for sale, our tourists' group grew to be quite an army, and as we 
trailed over the plain we looked like a caravan. The antiquity 
dealers and water-girls swarmed around us so that it was difficult 
to ride with comfort, and Hassan, who has practical ways of 
settling problems, went among them with a stick. Hassan's 
energy, however, brought his good name into peril, for the idea 
of beating- the nimble, ragged maidens who flocked about us and 
filled the air with dust, was revolting to the lady of the expedi- 
tion, who summoned Hassan before her and forbade him to beat 
the children. Hassan, who is as kindly a being as ever carried a 
cimeter, explained that he only wanted to frighten them and did 
not beat anybody. I quite believed him, for in a race the water- 
girls, who were as nimble as a gazelle, would leave Hassan, who 



330 AROUND THE WORLD. 

is stout and slow, far behind in no time. So, as a preventive 
measure, Hassan was instructed to make public announcement 
that unless the water-girls and donkey-boys and antiquity peddlers 
remained far behind, where they would not raise the dust, they 
should have no backsheesh. Hassan made this terrible proclama- 
tion from his donkey with many gesticulations and shakings of 
his stick ; and so we kept on with moderate comfort and peace. 
But every now and then some one of the children would steal up 
to your side under pretence of offering you water, and coax you 
for a copper coin with their large, black, wondering eyes, so that 
resistance was impossible, and in this way we came to Memnon. 
"All that is left of Memnonism are the two colossal statues, 
the one to the north being the statue that, according to the his- 
torians and priests, used to utter a sound every morning when 
the sun rose. The statue is silent enough now, and is a monolith 
about fifty feet high. A good part of the base is buried in the 
earth, but they loom up over the plain, and may be seen — as, in 
fact, we did see them — miles and miles away. You may have an 
idea of the size when you know that the statue measures eighteen 
feet three inches across the shoulders, sixteen feet six inches 
from the top of the shoulder to the elbow, and the other portions 
of the body in due proportion. No trace can be found of the 
cause of the vocal sunrise phenomenon. One theory is that the 
priests used to climb into a recess in the body of the statue, and 
perform a juggler's trick. I do not think so badly of the 
Egyptian priests, who, I suppose, were good men in their way, 
and not charlatans. You might find one priest in a multitude 
capable of climbing into a recess and calling upon the people to 
pay pew rent, or tithes, or something of the kind. But this 
sound continued for generations, and I do not believe you could 
find generations of priests carrying on the deception for years 
and years ; so I dismiss that theory and take another which 
Brugsch explains to us. The statue would be moist with dew at 
sunrise, and the sun's rays acting upon the dew would cause it 
to emit a sound like an interrupted chord of music ; just such a 
sound as you hear from a sea-shell if you hold it to your ear. 
As the sun is sure to shine every morning on these plains you 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 33 1 

could be certain that such a phenomenon would recur daily. I 
can well imagine how a freak of nature might be taken as the 
voice of the gods, and how humble priests would bow down to it 
and not enter into scientific speculations. After the statue had 
been tossed by an earthquake and riven, the music ceased, which 
only confirms me in doing justice to the poor priests. After we 
had ridden around the Memnon statue and its companion — 
around and around them, so as to see them from all sides, and 
have a full sense of their immensity — after we had rested a half 
hour in the grateful shade of the column, for the day was warm 
and severe, we made our way to the neighboring temple of Me- 
deenet Aboo. Our ride to this temple was over a mass of sand 
and rubbish. But near it was a sheltering grove of date palms, 
and the Marquis, whose practical mind is never disturbed by any 
ruins, however ancient, quietly informed us, as an encouragement 
under the beating sun, that we were to have luncheon. 

"Medeenet Aboo was one of the great temples of Thebes, and 
it deserves special mention here as the only one where you can 
find traces of the home life of an Egyptian king. I had been 
asking Brugsch on many occasions where we could see some 
trace of how king and people lived in the early days. One 
grew tired — let me say it, if I dare, without irreverence — one 
grew tired of temples and tombs and these endless tributes to 
the valor of kings and the virtues of the gods. So when we 
came to Medeenet Aboo we were shown the rooms where the 
great Rameses lived. This was the third Rameses, who lived 
twelve, or perhaps thirteen centuries before Christ — who is sup- 
posed by some to have succeeded the Pharaoh who brought the 
plagues upon Egypt. To enter the private apartments of a great 
monarch is undoubtedly a privilege, and I was prepared for some 
ceremony in making our call. But the apartment was in the 
second story, and the ceremonies were something like those 
which a school-boy adopts in climbing a neighbor's cherry tree. 
You climbed a stone, and then a wall, and up the wall over 
stones which time and sight-seers had worn smooth, and into a 
window from a precarious ledge. I suppose the great king 
entered into the bosom of his family by some less complicated 



332 AROUND THE WORLD. 

method ; and as I saw Hadden and Wilner climb the rock 
nimbly enough I remembered that they were sailors, and could 
run up rigging, and that I would wait and take their word 
for it when they came down. But when I saw the conqueror of 
Lee deliberately follow, and scale the imperial chamber with all 
the activity of a young lieutenant, a sense of reproach came over 
me, and I was bound to follow. The room in which his majesty 
lived, and which one reached somewhat out of breath and a good 
deal covered with dust, was not an imposing apartment. It evi- 
dently feels the absence of the master's eye, for the bats have 
taken possession and the roof is gone. The walls are covered 
with inscriptions. But you see gentler themes than those we 
have been studying these many, many days. Here the king 
lived with the ladies of his harem. You see him attended by 
them. They are giving him lotus flowers ; they wave fans before 
him. In one picture he sits with a favorite at a game of draughts. 
His arm is extended, holding a piece in the act of moving. I am 
afraid he had little trouble in winning that game, as his fair 
opponent, instead of watching the moves, is nursing his senses 
by holding a perfumed flower to his nose. 

" This glimpse of the natural domestic life of the old days was 
refreshing after the battles and prayers that had followed us all 
the way from Abydos. It is the only fact I care to note about 
this temple, especially as we are to-morrow to visit Karnak, and 
in the presence of that stupendous ruin why waste space on 
Medeenet Aboo ? So we go down into the sanctuary and take 
our luncheon, the Marquis, who did not climb the ruin, welcom- 
ing us with beaming eyes. We gather about the rude table, and 
we drink the health of the Khedive, and home again. We have 
the same procession, donkey-boys and water-maidens and sellers 
of relics. When we come to the river bank Mrs. Grant sum- 
mons all the maidens to her and distributes backsheesh. The 
attempt to preserve order is vain. The water-maidens rushed 
and screamed, and rushed at the purse, and when paid at one 
end of the line ran down to the other and cried because they 
had received nothing. Finally, after liberal disbursements and 
in sheer despair at doing justice to all, and not without a mur- 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. $33 

mur at the savagery and selfishness of the ones she meant to 
aid, our gracious lady turned the business over to Hassan. As 
we pushed off in our boats we saw Hassan making his small pay- 
ments to a quite orderly and decorous crowd. But Hassan had 
a stick, and, alas ! that one must write it of so glorious a land, 
the stick has become an essential element in the manners and 
customs of the land. 

" We had seen Thebes, we had even begun to grow weary of 
Thebes. There was a dinner in state which had to be eaten. 
The General was tired and concluded he would not go. He had 
been riding all day to Memnon, the temple, and back again, and 
we were all dusty and tired. But when the General's regret was 
sent our Arab host was so sad about it, and so apprehensive lest 
his fellow-consuls, who knew the General had dined with other 
vice consuls on the way, might misconstrue his absence. So the 
General went in state or in as much state as we can assume in 
this region, our naval friends in full uniform. 

"When we went to our Theban dinner the Doctor was ill, and 
the honor fell upon Hadden, who blazed in gold, and whom the 
waiters were with the utmost difficulty prevented from helping 
as the honored guest. Our dinner was served in the upper 
chamber of the house, and the host sat on one side of the table 
eating nothing, in a state of constant alarm, that made us sym- 
pathize with him. He was an Egyptian, with a keen, kind, 
swarthy face, with a slight gray beard, who had never been north 
of Thebes in his life and had never drank anything but Nile 
water. I suppose the honor of entertaining the Chief Magistrate 
of the United States, and the fear lest he might not do us all 
the honor he wished, oppressed him, and he sat in deep oppres- 
sion, his eye wandering from the General to the waiters, who also 
seemed to share his alarm. The dinner was a stupendous affair, 
course after course in Oriental profusion, until we could not even 
pay the dishes the compliment of tasting them. Then came the 
coffee and the pipes. During the dinner, which was composed of 
the host and our own party, we had music. A group of Arab 
minstrels came in and squatted on the floor. The leader of 
the band — I should say about half-a-dozen — was blind, but his 



334 AROUND THE WORLD. 

skill in handling his instrument was notable. It was a rude in- 
strument, of the violin class, the body of it a cocoanut shell. He 
held it on the ground and played with a bow, very much as one 
would play a violoncello. He played love-songs and narratives, 
and under the promptings of Sami Bey went through all the 
grades of his art. 

" We were to see the wonder of the world in Karnak. Kar- 
nak is only about forty minutes from Luxor, and does not involve 
crossing the river. I was grateful to the vice consul for sending 
us the same group of donkeys which had borne us to Memnon. 
And when I ascended the hill there was my friend Mohammed 
Ali jumping and calling and pushing his donkey toward me. A 
good donkey has much to do with the pleasure of your journey, 
and Mohammed Ali's was a patient, sure-footed little thing that 
it made me almost ashamed to ride. We set out early, because 
it was commanded by Sami Bey that we should return to the boat 
and breakfast, and while at breakfast steam up the river. 

" I cannot tell you when the Temple of Karnak was built. 
You see, in this matter of chronology, authorities as high as 
Wilkinson, Bunsen, and Mariette differ sometimes as much as a 
thousand years in a single date. But my own opinion is that 
Brugsch knows all about it, and he places the first building three 
thousand years before Christ. 

" Karnak, which was not only a temple, but one in the series 
of temples which constituted Thebes, is about a half mile from the 
river, a mile or two from the temple of Luxor. The front wall 
or propylon is 370 feet broad, fifty feet deep, and the standing 
tower 140 feet high. Leading up to this main entrance is an 
avenue lined with statues and sphinxes, 200 feet long. When 
you enter this gate you enter an open court-yard, 275 feet by 
329. There is a corridor or cloister on either side ; in the middle 
a double line of columns, of which one only remains. You now 
come to another wall, or propylon, as large as the entrance, and 
enter the great hall — the most magnificent ruin in Egypt. The 
steps of the door are forty feet by ten. The room is 1 70 feet 
by 329, and the roof was supported by 134 columns. These 
columns are all or nearly all standing, but the roof has gone. 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 335 

Twelve are sixty-two feet high without the plinth, and eleven feet 
six inches in diameter. One hundred and twenty-two are forty- 
two feet five inches in height and twenty-eight feet in circum- 
ference. They were all brilliantly colored, and some of them 
retain the colors still ; and you can well imagine what must have 
been the blaze of light and color when the kings and priests 
passed through in solemn procession. We pass through another 
gate into an open court. Here is an obelisk in granite seventy- 
five feet high, and the fragments of another, its companion. The 
inscriptions on them are as clear as though they had been cut 
yesterday, so gentle is this climate in its dealings with Time. 
They celebrate the victories and virtues of the kings who reigned 
seventeen hundred years before Christ, and promise the kings in 
the name of the immortal gods that their glory shall live for ages. 
We pass into another chamber very much in ruins and see an- 
other obelisk ninety-two feet high and eight square — the largest 
in the world. This monument commemorates the virtues of the 
king's daughter, womanly and queenly virtues, which met their 
reward, let us hope, thirty-five centuries ago. You may form 
some idea of what the Egyptians could do in the way of 
mechanics and engineering when you know that this obelisk is 
a single block of granite, that it was brought from the quarry 
miles and miles away, erected and inscribed in seven months. 
The next room was the sanctuary, the holy of holies, and is now 
a mass of rubbish requiring nimble feet to climb. You scramble 
over stones and sand until you come to what was the room where 
King Thothmes III., who lived sixteen centuries before Christ, 
was represented as giving offerings to fifty-six of his royal pre- 
decessors. The hall is a ruin, and some French vandals carried 
off the tablet — tone of the most valuable in Egypt — to Paris. 
Altogether the building alone was 1,108 feet long and about 
300 wide, the circuit around the outside, according to a Roman 
historian who saw it in its glory, being about a mile and a half. 

"This is the temple, but the temple was only a part. There 
were three avenues leading from it to the other temples. These 
avenues were lined with statues, large and small, generally of the 
sphinx. I saw numbers of them sitting in their ancient places 



o-ig AROUND THE WORLD. 

slowly crumbling to ruin. There were two colossal statues at the 
door, now lying on the earth an uncouth mass of granite. One 
of them was almost buried in the sand, the ear being exposed. 
You can fancy how large it must have been when you know this 
ear was a foot long at least. Near the obelisk, some distance 
from the temple, is a pool of water, on the banks of which black 
children are scampering and shouting ' Backsheesh, howadji.' 
This was the Sacred Lake. This lake had an important office 
in the religion of the old Egyptians. When an Egyptian died 




RUINED EGYPTIAN TEMPLE. 

and was embalmed, his body was brought to the lake. The pro- 
cession was a solemn one — mourners throwing dust on their 
heads, a priest sprinkling water from a brush dipped in a vase, 
very much as Catholic priests sprinkle holy water ; attendants 
throwing palms on the ground, others carrying fruits and meats, 
incense and ostrich feathers. The coffin was borne on a sledge 
until it came to this lake. Here were forty-two judges, men who 
had known the deceased. Here was the boat, the sacred boat 
that was to carry the body to the other shore. If it could be 
shown to these judges that the deceased had been an ungodly 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 3$f 

man, that his life had been a scandal, then he was denied sepul- 
ture. If it was shown that he had lived worthily and the judges 
so decided, then all weeping ceased, eulogies were pronounced 
upon his memory, the body was carried to the other shore, and 
from thence removed to the catacombs to rest in honor and 
peace — in peace, at least, until Arab peasants rummaged their 
graves and made merchandise of their coffins and grave-clothes, 
their ornaments and tokens, their very bones, just as these 
greasy Arabs who swarm about our donkeys are doing at this 
very hour. 

" Wherever we find walls we have inscriptions. The inscrip- 
tions are in hieroglyphic language — a language as clear to 
scholars now as the Latin or the Sanskrit. Brugsch reads them 
off to us as glibly as though he were reading signs from a Broad- 
way store. The stories will hardly bear repetition, for they are 
the same that we saw at Dendoreh, at Abydos, all through Egypt. 
They tell of battles and the glory of the king Rameses, who is 
supposed to be the Sesostris of the Greeks. We have him lead- 
ing his men to attack a fortified place. Again we see him leading 
foot soldiers and putting an enemy to the sword. We have him 
leading his captives as an offering to the gods — and offering not 
only prisoners, but booty of great value. The groups of prisoners 
are rudely done, but you see the type of race clearly outlined. 
We know the Hebrew by the unmistakable cast of features — as 
marked as the face of Lord Beaconsfield. We trace the Phoeni- 
cian, the Etruscan, as well as the negro types from Ethiopia, and 
thus learn of the warlike achievements of this monarch, whose 
fame is carved all over Egypt, and about whose name there is an 
interesting debate. Again and again these war themes are re- 
peated, one king after another reciting his conquests and his vir- 
tues, wars and treaties of peace. It seemed in the building of 
these temples that the intention was to make the walls monu- 
mental records of the achievements of various reigns. Thus five 
centuries are covered by the reigns of Sethi and Sheshonk, and 
yet each king tells his own story side by side. When the walls 
were covered, or a king wished to be especially gracious to the 
priests, or, as is more probable, desired to employ his soldiers, he 



33^ AROUND THE WORLD. 

would build a new wing, or addition, to the temple already exist- 
ing, striving if possible to make his own addition more magnificent 
than those of his predecessors. In this way came the Great Hall 
of Karnak, and in every temple we have visited this has been 
noticed. As a consequence these stupendous, inconceivable ruins 
were not the work of one prince and one generation, but of many 
princes and many generations. And, as there was always some- 
thing to add and always a new ambition coming into play, we find 
these temples, tombs, pyramids, obelisks, all piled one upon the 
other, all inspired by the one sentiment and all telling the same 
story. It was because that Thebes was the centre of a rich and 
fertile province, sheltered from an enemy by the river and the 
mountains, that she was allowed to grow from century to century 
in uninterrupted splendor. What that splendor must have been 
we cannot imagine. Here are the records and here are the ruins. 
If the records read like a tale of enchantment, these ruins look 
the work of gods. The world does not show, except where we 
have evidences of the convulsions of nature, a ruin as vast as 
that of Karnak. Imagine a city covering two banks of the Hud- 
son, running as far as from the Battery to Yonkers, and back 
five, six, or seven miles, all densely built, and you have an idea 
of the extent of Thebes. But this will only give you an idea of 
size. The buildings were not Broadways and Fifth Avenues, but 
temples, and colossal monuments, and tombs, the greatness of 
which and the skill and patience necessary to build them exciting 
our wonder to-day — yes, to-day, rich as we are with the achieve- 
ments and possibilities of the nineteenth century. Thebes in its 
day must have been a wonder of the world, even of the ancient 
world which knew Nineveh and Babylon. To-day all that 
remains are a few villages of mud huts, a few houses in stone 
flying consular flags, a plain here and there strewed with ruins, 
and under the sands ruins even more stupendous than those we 
now see, which have not yet become manifest. 

"Assouan was to be the end of our journey, the turning point 
of our Nile trip. Assouan is the frontier station of Old Egypt, 
on the boundary of Nubia. All these days we had been pressing 
toward the equator, and we began to see the change. Assouan 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 339 

is a pretty town — to my mind prettier than any I had seen on the 
Nile. It is difficult to make any standard of comparison among 
towns which are nearly all hovels, and, so far as scenery is con- 
cerned, Nature in Egypt is in so grand a phase that she is always 
winning. But there was something about Assouan that attracted 
me. It may have been the grateful trees that hung over the 
governor's palace — you see 1 call every governor's house a 
palace — or it may have been the governor himself. This gentle- 
man was a Nubian — seacoal black — a tall, well-formed, handsome 
man, in the latest Parisian dress. Our eyes had been feasting for 
so long upon man in various degrees of nakedness and rags that 
this presence — this real presence of embodied clothes, kid gloves, 
cashmere and cloth, with the fez just tipping the left ear — was a 
sensation. It was like a breath from the boulevards, although our 
governor seemed uneasy in his clothes, and evidently feared they 
would be soiled. These two early impressions — the trees and the 
garments — threw a glamour over Assouan, and now in writing, 
w r ith the memories of the trip floating before me, I find myself 
dwelling with comfort upon this pleasant frontier Nubian town. 

"Of Assouan, in the way of useful information, it is sufficient 
to say that it is a town of 4,000 inhabitants, 580 miles south of 
Cairo, 730 south of the Mediterranean. It used to be supposed 
that the town lay directly under the equator. In the ancient 
days Assouan was a quarry, and here were found the stones 
which became obelisks, temples, and tombs. Assouan's history 
is associated more with Arabian than Egyptian history. When 
Islam was marching to conquer the world, the Saracens made a 
town here and an outpost. When this glory departed, Assouan 
became, like most frontier towns in the wild days of men, the 
scene of constant strifes and schisms between the Nubian and 
Egyptian. There is a place called the Place of Martyrs, Moslem 
martyrs, and a mosque eight hundred years old, and many 
Turkish inscriptions: 'I bear witness that there is no God but 
God; that he has no rival, and that Mohammed is the prophet of 
God.' We did not visit these places, and were, I am afraid, 
more interested in knowing that it was at Assouan that Juvenal 
lived in banishment. There was no house pointed out as 



34-0 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Juvenal's house, and no tree as Juvenal's tree. All of which 
showed two things — lamentable lack of enterprise on the part 
of Assouan, and that the priests took no interest in Juvenal's 
character or deeds. 

" In these days Assouan nourishes as one of the depots of the 
desert trade. Here the caravans come from Ethiopia, and you 
find traces of desert merchandise among the bazaars. We visited 
the bazaars, Mrs. Grant and the writer doing some shopping, and 
Hassan going ahead with his stick, commanding all loyal subjects 
of the Khedive to fall back and make way for the pilgrims. 
There were no bones and no antiquities for sale at Assouan, a 
fact that I note with gratitude. But there was honest merchan- 
dise of an humble sort — ostrich feathers, ivory, gum arabic, skins, 
ebony clubs, silver rings, lances, and crockery. It was the rumor 
of ostrich feathers that carried us to the bazaars, and soon we 
were surrounded by a crowd waving the plumes in our faces. 
The Marquis, in his quiet, circumspect way, had purchased for 
me some Egyptian earthenware, with which I intend to make a 
reputation as a connoisseur in the arts when I return to America, 
if it is not broken. 

"What carried us to the bazaars was the ostrich feather. 
This consummate plume of our modern civilization is brought 
here in caravans from the desert. The best feathers are those 
which come from wild birds — those trained and tamed, as in 
Southern Africa, giving out a flimsier and coarser-fibred feather. 
I never knew there was so much in an ostrich feather until I 
found myself the silent partner of Mrs. Grant in the markets of 
Assouan. I had seen a good deal of the feathers, especially in 
London, on the signs of gentlemen appointed to sell needles and 
soap and tripe to the Prince of Wales, and had a vague impres- 
sion that the principal demand for ostrich feathers was to make 
plumes for his royal highness. But I soon learned that there are 
qualities in the ostrich feather which a mere matter-of-fact writer 
of letters and leading articles had never dreamed of. I also learned 
some valuable hints as to the way of doing business. In our prosy 
country you walk into a store, you pay your money, you pick up 
your handkerchief or New Testament, or whatever it may be, 







FRONT OF THE ROCK TEMPLE OF IBSAMBUL, EGYPT. 



(341: 



34 2 AROUND THE WORLD. 

and walk away. You ask no questions, and it is very probable 
if you did you would have no answers. The Arab merchant sits 
in his cubbyhole, smoking his pipe. His cubbyhole is about six 
feet square and two feet from the ground. He sits with his legs 
crossed, and sometimes he is reading the Koran. Here he sits 
for hours and hours, unconscious of the world, perhaps sustained 
by that fine Moslem precept which I submit to friends at home as 
a panacea for bankruptcy, that whatever is, is the will of God, 
and if it is His holy will that no one comes and buys, then blessed 
be God, the only God, and Mohammed the prophet of God. 

"You come and turn over his goods. He studies you over 
and over. He calculates your power of resistance as though you 
were a mechanical force. If you are alone, you become an easy 
prey. Mrs. Grant was always an easy prey. These people 
were all so poor, so ragged, so naked, and what they asked was, 
after all, so small, that she was always disposed to pay more than 
was asked. But in our bargains here we are thrown back upon 
Hassan's Arabic. You turn over your feathers and hold them to 
the light, and turn them over and over again. Finally you select 
a bunch, and bid Hassan buy them. Hassan picks them up, lays 
them down and picks them up again, as though there might be 
worse feathers, but he had never seen them; that he was select- 
ing a feather museum, and wanted a few specimens of the worst 
in the world. The dealer calmly looks on at this pantomime. 
Hassan asks in a contemptuous tone the price. He murmurs 
the price — five or six napoleons, let us say. 'Five or six napo- 
leons! ' cries Hassan, throwing up his hands and eyes, tossing the 
feathers at the feet of the cross-legged Moslem and turning- to- 
ward us with an expression of rage and wonder at the exorbitance 
of the price, and calling upon all around to witness that he was 
being swindled. 'Well, but Hassan/ says our lady, as she takes 
up the rejected feathers, New York price-lists running in her 
mind, T don't think five or six napoleons such an exorbitant 
price, for the feathers are good feathers.' You see the poor 
merchant does look so poor, and he cannot sell many feathers in 
Assouan, and of course he has children, and so — and so. 

"But this is the way trade is ruined, Hassan evidently thinks, 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 343 

but is too dutiful to say. So he explains that they always ask 
two prices, sometimes three or four, and that if we would all grow 
angry and throw down the feathers and walk away after him, the 
merchant would follow us even to the boat, and ask us to name 
our price. Well, we appreciate Hassan's motives, but we want 
to buy the feathers and not perform a comedy, and the trade 
goes on, Hassan laboring under the disadvantage of our not 
having acted as a proper chorus. I have no doubt that this lack 
of proper support cost us in the end, for our Moslem tradesman 
evidently saw that it was God's will that we should buy the 
feathers. The trade proceeds. Hassan talks louder and louder, 
and appeals to the crowd. As he talks in Arabic, we only under- 
stand him as we would a pantomime. Finally the son of Islam 
asks what would the gracious lady give? 'Well,' says Mrs. 
Grant, T want to give what is right.' We name a price, say four 
napoleons. Then the merchant breaks into a pantomime. He 
takes the feathers angrily out of our hands. He, too, addresses 
the audience — and by this time there is an audience — upon the 
feathers. He holds them up and droops them into a waving 
dainty plume. 'Look at them! See how they shine! Look at 
their tints — white and gray and black ! Such feathers were never 
seen in Assouan; they came from the far desert; they would be 
cheap at a hundred napoleons.' We suggest to Hassan after 
this address that we might as well go elsewhere ; that a faith so 
firmly fixed would not move. 'Wait a little,' Hassan says, 'he 
will take the four napoleons, and would take three if we had 
offered them.' So the debate goes on in fury, the anger increas- 
ing, until Hassan says four napoleons will buy the feathers. We 
pay the money and go to the boat with our plumes. When we 
thank Hassan for his services, he intimates that if we had let him 
alone he would have bought them for two napoleons. 

" It was very warm when we gathered under the trees the next 
morning to make ready for our journey to Philae. Sami Bey had 
hurried us, and the General was, as he always is, the first at the 
post. The governor was there, and there was a suspicion, his 
clothes looked so neat and without wrinkles, that he had sat up 
all night to keep them nice. He brought the General a despatch 



344 AROUND THE WORLD. 

from Gordon Pacha, the famous English officer who has been 
made Governor-General of the Provinces of the Equator by the 
Khedive, and who is now at Khartoun. But we are just within 
his provinces, and he sends his message of welcome, one great 
soldier greeting another. The General returns his thanks and 
we mount. The General is in luck this morning. The governor 
has provided him with an Arabian steed — one of the animals 
about which poets write. This horse was worthy of a poem, and 
the General expresses his admiration at its lines and paces, say- 
ing he had never seen a better horse. Its trappings are regal, 
and a smile of satisfaction breaks over the General's face as he 
gathers the reins in his hand and feels the throbbing of his ani- 
mal's flanks. Sami Bey suggests that perhaps the General 
should pace the horse up and down, with an attendant to hold 
him, to see if he is perfectly safe and comfortable. 

" Now, Sami Bey is as good a soul as ever lived, and always 
trying to make everything pleasant, and while he is sure about 
donkeys, has doubts about this splendid prancing steed. But our 
General is famous as a horseman in a land famous for horseman- 
ship, and smilingly says : Tf I can mount a horse I can ride him, 
and all the attendants can do is to keep away.' We sat out in 
procession, our little trailing army in its usual order of march. 
The General ahead, Mrs. Grant at his side or near him, securely 
mounted on her donkey, the Marquis and Hassan near her, 
should evil fall. We come after, taking the pace our donkey 
gives us, having learned how wise it is to have no controversy 
with that useful and wise being, especially upon a theme he knows 
so well, the holes, and ditches, and yielding sands of Egypt. 
' Now you will see,' says Brugsch, ' how beautiful the island of 
Philae is ; how it nestles in the trees, and how the temple stands 
out amid the craes and hills, as though nature had been the archi- 
tect, not man.' Then he told us that Philae was quite a modern 
place — that the ruins were not more than two thousand years old, 
and that much of the sculpture was the work of the later Roman 
emperors, when those slovenly princes were the masters of Egypt. 
This was all the history connected with Philae, although no doubt 
a temple had been built in the early days and destroyed, and the 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 345 

one we were to visit was on its site. As Philae was on the bor- 
ders of Ethiopia, and in the vicinity of the granite quarries which 
supplied the old monarchs with all the stone for their monuments, 
it must have always been an important point. It was the pass 
through which the old invading armies of the kings passed 
when they invaded Ethiopia and brought home the prisoners 
whose negro lineaments we have seen traced on the monuments 
elsewhere. 

" But very soon Brugsch came to us in sorrow, and said that 
we were not to see Philae amon^ the trees, nestling in the crags 
— to see it from afar, and journey toward it as a temple of beauty. 
The governor had crone on, and taken another road among die 
abandoned quarries and tombs, and we saw nothing but rocks 
and hills, gigantic masses of granite heaped on the plain in the 
volcanic time. Well, we had been seeing so much sand, and clay, 
and limestone rock, we had become so weary — no, I will not say 
weary, but so accustomed to the low, sloping river, that it was like 
a glimpse of home to have the granite bowlders throwing their 
shadows over your path and sometimes losing it, so that you had 
to keep a wary eye to prevent your limbs being bruised by the 
jagged stones. It looked like a bit of New England tossed into 
this Nile plain. The sun was beating with his naming fury, and 
all that was left to the jaded traveller was to draw the folds of 
the silk over his brow and face ; and jog on. It was the warmest 
day we had known, in a land where we have known only summer 
days. To my mind the granite plain as we advanced to Philae 
was full of interest. I thought of the ancient civilization of 
Egypt in its most repellent and selfish form. It was here that 
the Egyptians were dragged, generation after generation, to dig 
out monstrous stones and move them down the river to do honor 
to the kings. For centuries the work continued — the most selfish 
work, I take it, ever ordained by a king. For centuries it went 
on — Cheops this age, Abydos the age after ; Karnak requiring 
twenty centuries alone. Here was the scene of their toil. Here 
the taskmaster carried out the orders of the king and forced the 
uncomplaining slave. I can well understand the horror with 
which the Israelites regarded Egyptian bondage if they ever 



34^ AROUND THE WORLD. 

came to Assouan to dig stones for a kingly tomb. I have no 
doubt they did their share of the work, and that over this sandy, 
rocky plain they trudged their weary road from year to year, 
their hearts fixed on the Holy Land, waiting for the hour when 
God would put it into Pharaoh's heart to send them out of the 
house of bondage. The glory of that dead civilization quite 
faded away, and I thought only of its selfishness, of its barren- 
ness, and it seemed only a fit retribution that the monuments 
which were to commemorate for ages the ever-increasing glory 
of the kings should be given over to the Arabs and the bats, 
should teach no lesson so plainly as the utter vanity of human 
pride and power. 

" We rode along the bank and dismounted, and embarked on 
a dahabeeah, which was to ferry us over. This dahabeeah is 
under the control of a sheik, whose duty is to carry vessels up 
and down the cataracts. For seventy years, man and boy, he 
has done this work, and as he stood by the rail looking on, his 
turbaned head, his swarthy face tinged with gray, and his flowing 
robes, he looked handsome and venerable. He had twenty-five 
of a crew, including the children. There was a minor character 
in baggy clothes who gave orders, but the old man was a moral 
influence, and he watched every phase and ripple of the stream. 
I should like to have interviewed the sheik. A man who has 
spent seventy years in these Nubian solitudes, striving with a 
mad, eccentric river, must have thought well on many grave 
problems. But my resources in strange tongues do not include 
Arabic ; and so I am debarred. But we are now moving along 
the stream, and wayward currents encompass us, and the sheik is 
no longer a mere moral influence, but an active power. He 
shouts and gesticulates, and the crew all shout in a chorus, end- 
ing with an odd refrain, something like a prolonged moan. It is 
quite stirring, this strife with the currents ; and, although the sun 
beats with all of his power upon us, we stand upon the deck and 
watch. The General expresses his admiration of the seamanship 
of the Arabs — an admiration which is justified by the manner in 
which, surging through the perils of the stream, we nestle under 
the temple walls of Philse. 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 347 

"We land, not without an effort, and climb into the ruin. 
Philae is not specially interesting as a temple after you have seen 
Thebes and Abydos. I can think of nothing useful to say about 
it, except that as a ruin it is picturesque. Nature comes as an 
aid. The temples we have been visiting have been mainly in the 
sand, on the desert. But here we are in volcanic regions. 
Around us are piles of granite rock. The island is green, and 
the date palms salute us as we pass. There are flowers, and, in- 
stead of bulging and sliding through sand, we step trippingly 
over stones and turf. In the sanctuary we note three young 
Germans eating lunch. We pass to the other bank to see the 
cataract. This is one of the features of the Nile. The river 
here spreads into various channels and runs over rocks. One 
channel is used for vessels ascending the stream, the other for 
vessels descending the stream. The one before us is not more 
than a quarter of a mile long. The river is narrow, the banks 
are steep, and the stream rolls and dashes like a sea, the waves 
lashing the banks and roaring. I should call the cataract simply 
a narrow, heavy sea. The danger in navigating is from the rocks 
and being dashed against the banks. It is a relief, fresh from 
five hundred miles of easy, placid sailing, the river as smooth as 
a pond, to see it in this angry mood. While we are here we note 
men swimming toward us, each man on a log with a garment tied 
to the head. They are natives who propose to run the rapids for 
our amusement. They swim, or rather hold on to a log, and 
propel themselves into the current. It is hazardous enough, for 
the current sweeps like a torrent, and the least want of nerve 
would dash the swimmer against the rocks. But they go through 
bravely enough and come out into the smooth water below. Each 
swimmer, carrying his log on his shoulder, and drawing his single 
garment around his shivering loins, comes for backsheesh. Has- 
san makes the payments, but the crowd becomes clamorous and 
aggressive, and would probably carry off Hassan, bag and all, 
but for the governor, who restores order with his stick. We re- 
turn to our donkeys, having had an interesting but rather weary- 
ing day. And in the morning, before we are up, our boat has 
turned its prow and we are going home. 



34§ AROUND THE WORLD. 

"On our way home we stopped long enough to allow all of the 
party, but Sami Bey and the writer, to visit the tombs of the 
kings. I had letters to write, and we were running swiftly 
toward mails and mailing distance from New York. We stopped 
over night at Keneh, and saw our old friend the governor, who 
came down on his donkey and drank a cup of coffee. We 
stopped an hour at Siout, and two of our missionary friends came 
on board and told us the news from the war and from home. 
We gathered around them in anxious wonder, hearing how 
Adrianople had fallen, how Derby had resigned, and how Eng- 
land was to go armed into the European conference. ' I begin 
to think now,' said the General, ' for the first time, that England 
may go in.' Some one proposes, laughingly, that the General, 
who is on his way to Turkey, should offer the Sultan his services. 
' No,' he said, ' I have done all the fighting I care to do, and the 
only country I ever shall fight for is the United States.' On the 
3d of February we reached Memphis. The minarets of Cairo 
were in sight, and we found General Stone waiting for us with a 
relay of attendants and donkey-boys from Cairo. We were all 
glad to see our amiable and accomplished friends, and we had 
another shower of news, which came, to use a figure that is not 
quite original, like rain upon the sandy soil. We mounted for 
our last sight-seeing ride on the Nile, to visit the ruins of Mem- 
phis and the tomb of the sacred bulls. 

" It was believed in the Egyptian mythology that the god 
Osiris came to earth and allowed himself to be put to death in 
order that the souls of the people might be saved. After his 
death there was a resurrection, and the immortal part of him 
passed into a bull — called Apis. The bull could only be known 
by certain signs written in the sacred books, and kept by tradi- 
tion. These signs were known to the priests. When they found 
the calf bearing these marks he was fed for four months, on 
milk, in a house facing the rising sun. He was then brought to 
Memphis and lodged in a palace, and worshipped with divine 
honors. The people came to him as an oracle. When he passed 
through the town he was escorted with pomp, children singing 
hymns in his honor. The greatest care was taken of his life. 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 349 

At the end of twenty-five years, unless natural causes intervened, 
the reign of Apis came to an end. Another calf was found bear- 
ing- the sacred signs. The bull was marched to the fountain of 
the priests and drowned with ceremony. He was embalmed and 
buried in the tombs which we visited at Memphis. Our ride to 
Memphis was a pleasant one, a part of it being through the 
desert. We passed close to the pyramid of Memphis, which is 
only an irregular, zigzag mass of stones. Brugsch tells us it is 
very old, but with no especial historical value. The ruins of 
Memphis are two or three tombs, and the serapeum or mauso- 
leum of the sacred bulls. One of the tombs was opened, and we 
went through it, noting, as we had so often before, the minute- 
ness and care of the decoration. There were other tombs, but 
to prevent the modern travellers from breaking them to pieces 
they were covered with sand. What a comment upon our civili- 
zation that Egypt can only preserve her tombs and monuments 
from Christian vandals by burying them ! 

" We then made our way to the serapeum. While on our 
journey we heard the story of the discovery of this remarkable 
monument. Mariette Bey, who still serves the Khedive, was 
directing excavations, and especially at Memphis. He had long 
believed that the tomb of the bulls could be found. So here he 
came and lived, working in the sand for two or three years, with 
a blind faith in his theory. You cannot imagine anything more 
unsatisfactory or discouraging than this digging in the sand. In 
an hour or a day a wind may come up and undo the work of 
months. Mariette Bey had his own discouragements, but he 
kept courageously on, and was rewarded by the discovery of the 
most important of the Egyptian monuments. We heard this 
story as we groped our way down to the tombs. We entered a 
long, arched passage with parallel passages. Candles had been 
placed at various points. On each side of this passage were the 
tombs. Each tomb was in its alcove. The bull was placed in a 
huge granite sarcophagus, the surface finely polished and covered 
with inscriptions. These coffins were stupendous, and it is a 
marvel how such a mass of granite could have been moved 
through this narrow channel and into these arches. We lit a 



350 AROUND THE WORLD. 

magnesium wire and examined one or two very carefully. The 
tombs had all been violated by the early conquerors, Persians 
and Arabs, to find gold and silver. In most cases the cover had 
been shoved aside enough to allow a man to enter. In others 
the sides had been broken in. The inside was so large that four 
of our party climbed up a ladder, and descended. There was 
room for three or four more. There were tombs enough to show 
that the bull had been worshipped for centuries. When we 
finished this study we rode back to our boat. The sun was going 
down as we set out on our return, and as we were passing 
through a fertile bit of Egypt — a part not affected by the bad 
Nile — the journey was unusually pleasant. After the parched 
fields and sandy stretches of the upper Nile, it was grateful to 
bathe in the greenery of this Memphis plain, to see the minarets 
of Cairo in the distance, to feel that we were comingf back to a 
new civilization. The sky lit up with the rosiest tints, one mass 
of the softest rose and pink — a vast dome glowing with color — 
starless, cloudless, sunless, it was that brief twilight hour, which 
we have seen so often on the Nile, and the memory of which be- 
comes a dream. I have seen no sky so beautiful as that which 
came to us when we bade farewell to Memphis. We reached our 
boat and gave the night to preparations for landing. 

"We had seen the Nile for a thousand miles from its mouth, 
with no want of either comfort or luxury, and had made the trip- 
much more rapidly than is the custom ; as Sami Bey remarked, 
it had been the most rapid trip he had ever known. Now, when 
there was no help for it, we began to wish we had seen more of 
Dendoreh, and had not been content with so hurried a visit to 
Karnak — Karnak, the grandest and most imposing ruin in the 
world. But, you see, we have letters to read from dear ones at 
home, and we have come to feel the world again, and we can 
think with more content of our experiences, now that our hunger 
for news has been appeased. So we pack up, and in the morn- 
ing we steam down to Cairo. The General sent for the captain, 
and thanked him and made him a handsome present. He also 
distributed presents to all on the boat, including the crew. 
About twelve we passed the bridge and moored at the wharf. 



EGYPT AND THE NILE. 35 1 

Our 'Vandalia' friends hurried to Alexandria to join their ship; 
those who had homes found them, while the General and party 
returned to the palace of Kassr-el-Noussa. 

" Here we were again received and welcomed by the represen- 
tatives of the Khedive. We remained in Cairo for a few days, 
making many interesting excursions and visits, and enjoying the 
continued hospitality of the Khedive. 

"Bidding adieu to our good friends at Cairo, we started for 
Port Said, and arrived on the 9th of February. Port Said seems 
quite modern after our journey into Upper Egypt. It is laid out 
in streets and squares, and is not unlike an American town; has 
a population of about ten thousand, among whom are many Ger- 
mans and Italians. It is quite a busy place, the repairing of 
shipping and the coaling of vessels being the principal occupa- 
tions of the people. We walked through its sandy streets, under 
a burning sun, on our way to the house of the consul, where we 
were to dine and rest. In the afternoon we were most heartily 
welcomed by our naval friends of the 'Vandalia,' the good ship 
having come from Alexandria to meet us. We embark, being 
very glad — notwithstanding the pleasant memories of our trip 
up the Nile — to get back once more under the protecting folds 
of that flag which speaks of home." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE HOLY LAND, TURKEY, AND GREECE. 

Arrival of the " Vandalia " at Jaffa — The Landing — Jaffa — The Journey — The Journey to Jeru- 
salem — Reception at Jerusalem — A Surprise to General Grant — His Personal Wishes 
Concerning Receptions — Life in Jerusalem — The Modern City — The Streets — The Jews — 
The Government — The Haram-esh-Sherif — The Ancient Temple — The Dome of the Rock 
—The Mosque of El-Aksa— The Church of the Holy Sepulchre— The Tomb of our Lord 
— Via Dolorosa — The Mount of Olives — Gethsemane — Visit to Bethlehem — Grotto of the 
Nativity — The Journey to Damascus — Northern Palestine — Nazareth — Damascus — Journey 
to Beyrout — Departure for Constantinople — Arrival in the Turkish Capital — Reception by 
the Sultan — Description of the City of Constantinople — General Grant's Arabian Horses — 
Departure for Greece — Arrival at Athens — Honors by the King and People — Modern 
Athens — Illumination of the Acropolis — Departure from Athens — Corinth — Syracuse — 
Arrival of the "Vandalia" at Naples — End of the Mediterranean Voyage. 



HE "Vandalia" sailed from Port Said in the afternoon 
of Saturday, February 9th, 1878, and the next morning 
the coast of Palestine was in full view. The travellers 
were on deck early, and they watched every point of this 
famous shore, as they steamed rapidly past it. Soon after break- 
fast the "Vandalia" hove to off Jaffa. The American Consul, 
Mr. Hardest, came on board to welcome General Grant to 
Syria, and in a little while the General and his party went ashore 
in the "Vandalia's" boat. Landing, they proceeded at once to 
the residence of Mr. Hardeee, in the suburbs of the town. 

Jaffa, or Yafa, as it is called by the Arabs, possesses one of the 
finest locations in the East. It stands immediately upon the shore 
of the Mediterranean, whose waves wash its walls. It lies upon 
a rounded hill, which slopes towards the sea on the western side, 
and is encompassed on the land side by groves of oranges, 
lemons, citrons, and apricots, which are unsurpassed and scarcely 
equalled by any in the world. From a distance it presents a 
massive and commanding appearance, but upon approaching it 
one finds that the houses are crowded close together; that the 

(352) 




23 



(353) 



354 AROUND THE WORLD. 

streets are narrow, crooked, dark, and dirty. The houses are 
built along the sides of the steep hill, as if each were trying to 
crowd the others towards the top, on which sits the castle look- 
ing down over the entire city. The houses seem terribly rickety 
to one from over the sea, and it is hard to resist the impression 
that if one of them should break loose it would send the whole 
mass sliding down into the sea. Around the town runs a strong 
wall, pierced with two gates only — one towards the plain, and 
the other overlooking the "harbor." A few old guns are 
mounted on the rampart facing the sea. The castle, though im- 
posing in appearance, would offer but a feeble resistance to a 
well-planned attack. 

In spite of its dirt, in spite of its hot, close crowded houses, 
Jaffa is a busy place. It is the one port of Southern Palestine, 
as it was of ancient Judaea, and it is the place at which nine-tenths 
of the pilgrims and visitors to the Holy Land enter the country. 
It is a port in some respects, and yet in one it hardly deserves 
the name, for it has no harbor. 

The French and Austrian steamers call here weekly, but as 
there is no harbor, they are obliged to lie out a mile or two from 
the shore, and land their passengers, mails, and freight in small 
boats. This can be done only in mild weather, and oftentimes 
they are obliged to pass and repass without being able to hold 
any communication with the town. A slight increase of wind 
will oblige a steamer to " up anchor," and run out to sea, for this 
is an ugly coast, upon which no sailor cares to be caught by foul 
weather. The so-called harbor of Jaffa affords no accommoda- 
tion whatever for ships of any kind. It consists of a strip of 
water some fifty feet wide and about five or ten feet deep, sheltered 
towards the sea by a low and partly submerged ridge of rocks. 
It has two entrances, one on the west, about ten feet wide, and 
the other on the north, a few feet wider. Only small boats can 
enter here, and these require the most skilful management. As 
the boats come dancing in from the steamers in the offing, the 
utmost precision in steering is necessary to clear the entrance. 
A few feet either way from the channel, and the boat would be 
hurled by the breakers upon the rocks, without hope of escape 



THE HOLY LAND, TURKEY, AND GREECE. 355 

for any of its occupants. Yet they come and go from year to 
year with comparatively few accidents. 

Once within the ledge of the rocks, and in smooth water, the 
boat makes for the Water Gate of the city, a mere aperture in 
the wall about six feet square, level with the street of the city, 
and about five feet above the water-line. It can be used only in 
calm weather, for " a breeze from the west frisks the foam into 
the doorway, blinding the aga on duty, drenching the poor 
donkeys, preventing the porters from either loading or unload- 
ing the boats. Through this small cutting in the rampart every- 
thing coming in to Palestine from the west — from France and 
England, from Egypt and Turkey, from Italy and Greece — must 
be hoisted from the canoes; such as pashas, bitter beer, cotton 
cloth, negroes, antiquaries, dervishes, spurious coins and stones, 
monks, Muscovite bells, French clocks, English damsels and 
their hoops, Circassian slaves, converted Jews, and Bashi 
Bazouks ; hauled up from the canoes by strings of Arabs ; men 
using their arms for ropes, their fingers for grappling-hooks, 
their scanty robe — a sack tied round the waist with a strap or 
sash — for a creel, a table, a kerchief, anything you please, except 
a covering for their limbs. In like manner, all waste and pro- 
duce going out of the country for its good or evil — maize, 
dragomans, oranges, penitent friars, bananas, olives, soldiers on 
leave, Frank pilgrims, fakeers, consuls, deposed pashas — must 
be shot from that tiny port-hole into the dancing boats, like 
Jonah into the sea. When a steamer hails in the road, this 
hauling up, this shooting out of goods and men, goes on for 
hours at a stretch." 

The population of Jaffa is estimated at about 5,000. Of these 
1,000 are Christians, 150 Jews, and the remainder followers of 
the Prophet. Its trade is increasing every year, as it is the only 
point along the southern coast at which steamers can call, and is 
within easy communication with Jerusalem by a tolerably good 
road. The constant passage of pilgrims and travellers through 
the city adds much to its trade. The leading European nations 
and the United States have consulates located here, and an 
enterprising firm have erected a comfortable hotel in the city, 



356 AROUND THE WORLD. 

conducted on the plan of similar establishments in Europe. Its 
present prosperity dates from about the middle of the last 
century. " Mr. Arutin Murad, our consular agent at the time," 
says Dr. Thompson, writing in 1858, "told me that the present 
city was then not a hundred years old. In consequence of the. 
pirates which infested this coast during the early life of his father, 
Jaffa was entirely deserted, and the inhabitants retired to Ramleh 
and Lydda. He himself remembered when there was only a 
single guard-house, occupied by a few soldiers, who gave notice 
to the merchants in Ramleh when a ship arrived." Jaffa has also 
a large trade in fruit and soap, and a growing trade in silk. 

The Jerusalem Gate is the only entrance to the city from the 
land side, and is always crowded. Just within it is a fountain in- 
scribed with Arabic legends, and adorned profusely with carvings. 
The gateway is a lofty tower pierced with a noble arch, and 
flanked by the city walls. " In the gateway itself sits the cadi, 
judging causes in the presence of donkey boys, fellahin, and 
Franks. This man is fined, that man is flogged; but there is 
little noise in the court, no bill of exceptions, and no thought of 
an appeal. The heat makes every one grave ; the very soldiers 
on guard are dawdling over pipes, and the collectors of duty are 
dozing in the shade." 

Beyond the gate is a broad open space, lying between the 
walls and the ditch which extends along the line of the ramparts, 
and upon it are erected a number of sheds and booths. This is 
the bazaar of Jaffa, in which is held a kind of perpetual fair, where 
one may buy nearly everything that is to be obtained in the East. 
Here congregate the >crangest crowds to be seen in Southern 
Palestine. "A house on the left is of planks ; one large hut, used 
for a cafe and exchange, has a wooden frame; but most of these 
booths are made of canvas stretched upon a frame of poles. 
Near the great tank, in which, when you go to drink water, you may 
happen to find a camel lapping, an Arab bathing, and a girl filling 
jars for domestic use, stands a house of stone and mud, a sort 
of pound, in which a sheik who dares not ride into the town may 
stable his mare. Under the light roofs of these sheds a merchant 
buys and sells ; a barber tells stories and shaves Moslem heads ; 



THE HOLY LAND, TURKEY, AND GREECE. 357 

a muleteer munches his black crust; a wayfarer breathes his 
hookah, paying a para for his jebile and fire ; an Arab haggles 
over the price of a carbine, a length of cotton, an Indian bamboo ; 
a donkey-boy sucks his bit of sweet cane ; a famished negro gob- 
bles up his mess of oil and herbs. All these men of swarthy 
race — some of them sheiks from the desert, some of them slaves 
from Cairo and the Soudan ; all bearded and bare-legged ; these 
wearing armlets and earrings, those wearing green shawls or tur- 
bans, a sign of their saintly rank — plod ankle-deep in the sand, 
each grain of which is hot as though it had been swept from a 
furnace to their feet. Piled up around them are heaps of fruit, 
such as very few gardens of this earth can match. Grapes, 
oranges, tomatoes, Syrian apples, enchant the eye with color. 
Figs, peaches, bananas, imprison the sunshine of summer days. 
Plums dazzle you with bloom. What mounds of dates, what 
mountains of melons ! And through all these crowds of men, 
through all these lanes of fruit, winds the track of the camel and 
the ass, the pilgrim and the monk, the pasha and the prior, from 
whatever point of the compass they may chance to come. And 
so it has always been, and always must be, in this suburb of the 
Jerusalem Gate. Dorcas bought fruit in this market, drew water 
at yon well. St. Peter walked in from Lydda along this sandy 
path. Pompey, Saladin, Napoleon rode through this litter of 
sheds and stalls." 

Beyond the ditch lie the orange groves and fruit orchards. 
They are very extensive and profitable, and are carefully culti- 
vated, irrigation being practised for this purpose. Water can be 
obtained in every garden, and at a moderate depth. 

The gardens are a very popular resort in the spring, when 
the fruits are ripening. People come out from the city, and 
spread their mats under the trees, and smoke, drink coffee, chat, 
sing or sleep, as suits them, until the approach of evening drives 
them within the walls again. The gardens and groves are very 
profitable also. Dr. Thompson was informed by the American 
Consul that the proprietors with care could clear a profit of ten 
per cent, on the capital invested, clear of all expenses. The 
oranges of Jaffa are considered the best for exportation of any in 
the East 



358 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Jaffa is one of the oldest cities in the world. Pliny mentions 
a tradition that it was built before the flood, though he does not 
say how it escaped the general destruction. It was assigned to 
the tribe of Dan upon the conquest of the land by the Israelites, 
and is mentioned in Joshua under the name of Jappho. It was 
the only port of the Israelites upon the Mediterranean coast, and 
it was the place to which the rafts of cedar and pine intended for 
the Temple at Jerusalem were shipped by Hiram from the Phoe- 
nician ports. The materials used in the construction of the 
second Temple by Ezra were also brought by sea from Tyre and 
Sidon to Joppa. The prophet Jonah took ship at Joppa for Tar- 
shish, in his fruitless effort to flee " from the presence of the 
Lord," and it could not have been very far off the coast that 
the prophet was thrown into the sea and swallowed by the 
fish. Joppa was also the scene of the miracle wrought by the 
Apostle Peter in raising Tabitha, or Dorcas, from the dead. 
After this Peter remained some time at Joppa, dwelling in the 
house of " Simon the tanner." The house is still shown on the 
side of the city next the sea, but one must exercise his discretion 
in accepting the site as genuine ; there can be no question that 
the house is modern. While residing with Simon, Peter was 
engaged one day in praying on the house-top ; and there had the 
remarkable vision by which God made manifest to him His 
will that the apostle should break through the bounds of his 
Jewish prejudices, and embrace all mankind in the great work 
of salvation. 

The secular history of Joppa is equally interesting. It suf- 
fered severely during the Maccabaean wars, the sympathies of its 
people appearing to be with the Syrians. They once threw 200 
Jews into the sea, and this drew upon them the direful vengeance 
of Judas Maccabaeus, who seized the town and burnt a portion 
of it, together with the Syrian fleet lying off the place at the time. 
Pompey deprived the Jews of Joppa, and included it in the 
government of Syria, but Caesar restored it to the Judaean 
crown. Cestius Gallus burned it, and put 8,000 of its inhabi- 
tants to the sword at the outbreak of the Jewish War of Inde- 
pendence. After this the place became the rendezvous for a band 



THE HOLY LAND, TURKEY, AND GREECE. 359 

of pirates and outlaws, who built them a number of ships, and 
made themselves a terror to the whole coast. One of the first 
acts of Vespasian (a. d. 6j) upon reaching Palestine was to send 
a force to break up this " nest of pirates." It is believed Joppa 
became the seat of a Christian bishop during the reign of Con- 
stantine. It passed into the hands of the Mohammedans in 636, 
Godfrey of Bouillon captured it previous to the attack upon 
Jerusalem, and it was an important post in the hands of the 
Christians. In 1188 its fortifications were destroyed by Saladin, 
and shortly after rebuilt by Richard of England, who was ill here 
for some time. In 1253 it was occupied by Louis IX. of France, 
but soon passed into the hands of the Mohammedans. Its his- 
tory is insignificant from this time until near the close of the last 
century, when the Mediterranean being swept clear of pirates 
Jaffa rose once more into prominence as the one port of South- 
ern Palestine. It was taken by assault by Napoleon in March, 
1799, and 2,500 prisoners were shot by his order. 

From Jaffa General Grant and his party went up to Jerusalem. 
Besides his regular travelling companions, the General was ac- 
companied by Mr. Hardegg and Lieutenant Commander A. G. 
Caldwell, Lieutenant J. W. Miller, Engineer D. M. Fuller, and 
Midshipman W. S. Hogg, of the " Vandalia." Three rough wagons 
without tops were provided for the party, and Mr. Hardegg rode 
on horseback. 

The party set out from Jaffa in the afternoon in the midst of 
a rain, going up to Jerusalem by the road traversed by most 
modern travellers. It lies directly across the plain to Ramleh, a 
ride of four hours, where the travellers passed the night at the 
Latin convent. The monks, in spite of the constant arrivals of 
travellers, and the fact that their hospitality is a source of profit 
to them, are slow about opening the convent gates, and it takes 
hard pounding with stones, and many calls given with all the 
strength of Arab lungs, to bring the porter to the entrance. 
Then the gate is opened slowly and with as much caution as if 
the good fathers expected a whole Bedawin tribe to force their 
way in, and the instant the traveller and his beast are fairly in- 
side the heavy door is slammed to and locked with an alacrity 
that is surprising. 



360 AROUND THE WORLD. 

At seven the next morning the General and his party resumed 
their journey, the rain still falling. The weather grew better as 
they neared the Holy City. From Ramleh the road leads to the 
southeast, across the plain to Latron, at the base of the hills. 
In an hour after leaving the convent the travellers passed the 
village of Kubab, a considerable place, which enjoys an evil 
reputation, and which most persons pass by as quickly as pos- 
sible. Three hours more across the plain, over which a fair rate 
of speed can be maintained, and one reaches Latron, which stands 
on a rocky hill to the right of the road, about an hour from the 
mouth of the defile which can be seen opening into the dark 
mountains beyond. The summit of the hill is covered with the 
ruins of a large and strong fortress, and at its foot is the half- 
ruined village. From the hill-top the eye ranges over a wide 
extent of the plain as far as Tell es-Safieh (Gath) on the south, 
and to the Mediterranean on the west, whose blue waters are 
unbroken by a single sail. Ramleh and Jaffa are both in sight. 
To the north are the mountains of Ephraim, and to the northeast 
Beth-horon, the scene of so many exploits of Jewish valor, towers 
towards the clouds, looking down upon the home of the illustrious 
hero whose great deeds it witnessed. 

Latron occupies a strong position, and was no doubt fortified 
at a very early day to command the mountain pass which leads 
from the plain to Jerusalem. The name is derived from that 
given to the place by the monks, Castellum Boni Latronis — 
" Castle of the Good Thief," from the tradition that this was the 
site of the castle of the Penitent Thief, according to some, of his 
birth-place, according to others. It is beyond a doubt the Castel- 
lum Emmaus of the Crusaders- — the fortress which they erected 
near Emmaus to control the Wady through which the Jerusalem 
road enters the mountains. Its greatest claim to honor, how- 
ever, arises from its identity with the ancient Modin, the home 
of the Maccabsean heroes, and their place of burial. In full 
sight to the northeast is Beth-horon, the scene of one of the 
great victories of Judas. Simon erected at Modin a lofty monu- 
ment with seven pyramids, which could be distinctly seen from 
the sea. The identification of the place is due to Dr. Robinson. 



THE HOLY LAND, TURKEY, AND GREECE. 361 

About a mile northeast of Latron, and in full view of it, is the 
village of 'Amwas, or Emmaus, or Nicopolis, which was a place 
of considerable importance during the Asmonaean wars, and 
which bore a prominent part in that struggle. It is also inter- 
esting because of the belief formerly entertained by Christian 
writers that it was the Emmaus mentioned by St. Luke, to which 
the two disciples were going from Jerusalem when the Saviour 
appeared to them on the day of His resurrection. It is now 
agreed by commentators that this could not have been the 
place. 

Two miles east of 'Amwas is the village of Yalo, which lies on 
a prominent ridge overlooking the valley of Merj Ibn 'Omeir. 
This is the ancient Ajalon, a town belonging to the tribe of Dan. 
The valley upon which it looks down is the " Valley of Ajalon," 
the scene of Joshua's great victory, to enable him to secure which 
the day was miraculously lengthened. 

From Latron the road runs direct to the mountains and plunges 
into a wild deep gorge called Wady Aly. The entrance is known 
as Bab el- Wady, " Gate of the Wady." Just before reaching 
the ravine the road passes a decaying building, evidently the re- 
mains of a Crusaders' tower, called for some unknown reason, 
Deir Eyub, " Job's Convent." At the mouth of the wady there 
is a wretched caravanserai — a mere rough shed kept by a peas- 
ant, at which pilgrims and persons going up on foot to Jerusalem 
can find rest and refreshment. 

Wady Aly is a wild, weird glen, whose sides rise up high over- 
head, and through which runs the Jerusalem road — a mere track 
straggling through the thick underbrush and over stones upon 
which the animals find it hard to secure a footing. It is literally 
no road at all, and no traveller who has ever passed over it will 
forget it. At every mile the ravine grows wilder and lonelier, 
and the ascent more difficult, as one climbs slowly from the plain 
to the high level of the mountain region around Jerusalem. Not 
a human being or sign of a habitation is to be seen. Only a few 
corn patches, a few olives and vines on the terraces upon the 
hillsides tell that the land is inhabited. The wady is strangely 
silent, and as one proceeds, the silence grows oppressive. The 



362 AROUND THE WORLD. 

turns are so sharp, so sudden, and the foliage so thick that there 
are scores of places in which the robber might lurk unseen until 
his rifle was at the traveller's breast. But the road is safe, and 
being much used, few Arabs are bold enough to attempt violence 
along it. At length, after two hours steady toil, the break-neck k 
path is surmounted, the summit of the pass is reached, and Wady 
Aly is left behind at the ruin of Beit Fejjol, which is passed on 
the left, with Saris, a little hamlet, with a garden and a well, on 
the left. The road then mounts to a higher ridge for about 
three-quarters of an hour, and then descends along the side of 
a precipitous valley, so abruptly that the animals can scarcely 
keep their footing. " In front rise two peaks ; to the right Soba ; 
to the left, Beit Nakubeh. Below, the valley spreads itself broad 
and open ; a white track running through it like a stream ; domes 
and mounds of earth rising round it, and appearing to enclose 
it in their arms." Some distance below is seen a bold and 
pretty hamlet clinging to the mountain side, and which is soon 
reached. 

This is Kuryet el-'Enab, the ancient Kirjath-Jearim. It stands 
on the right bank of the wady, and is one of the most picturesque 
places in Palestine. It is well built, the houses being of stone, 
and constructed with more care than is usual in the East. Olive 
trees and vines grow thickly along the terraces which stretch 
away from the village, and the thick green of the trees and 
luxuriance of the foliage forcibly recall the ancient name, " Vil- 
lage of Forests," by which the place was known to the Hebrews. 
Equally well does it merit its modern name, " Village of Vines." 
Several of the houses lie close together, and from their size and 
strength might easily be taken for a fortress. These are the 
residences of what is left of the family of the once famous robber 
chieftain Abu Ghaush, of whom more anon. An old Gothic 
church, deserted but not ruined, adjoins the village. The style 
is very plain, but is chaste and massive, and the building might 
be restored to its former uses. The walls are immensely thick, 
and the building would answer for a fortress as well as for a 
temple. The church was founded by the Crusaders, and a Fran- 
ciscan convent attached to it, both said by some writers to have 



THE HOLY LAND, TURKEY, AND GREECE. 363 

been dedicated to St. Jeremiah ; but the convent has disappeared 
without leaving a trace behind. The church is now a cattle-shed 
and a rope-walk. 

Kuryet el-'Enab was always a famous village. Centuries ago 
it was one of the cities of the crafty Gibeonites who beguiled 
Joshua into a league with them, and was known as Kirjath-Baal, 
"Village of Baal." It marked the southwest corner of the terri- 
tory of Benjamin, and was reckoned among the towns of Judah. 
When the Ark was sent from Ekron to Bethshemesh, the men of 
the latter place were smitten with a plague for their impious 
curiosity in looking into it, and at once sent to the inhabitants of 
Kirjath-Jearim to come and take it away, which was done, and 
here it remained in the house of Eleazar for twenty years, when 
David carried it in triumph up to Jerusalem. 

From Kuryet el-'Enab the road winds down into the glen, 
which it crosses, and ascends the slope on the opposite side. The 
splendid peak of Soba is constantly in sight to the right, and on 
its summit is a ruined fort, said to have been one of Abu Ghaush's 
strongholds. Climbing still higher, Kustul, a ruined castle stand- 
ing on the summit of a considerable hill, is passed to the right, 
and the road descends rapidly into a small ravine which flows off 
into Wady Beit Hanina, and passes along it to the eastward 
through pleasant groves and gardens to its junction with Wady 
Beit Hanina. At the point of junction, on the end of the 
ridge, stands the village of Kolonieh, a pretty collection of flat- 
roofed cottages, embowered in the smiling orchards and vine- 
yards which line the terraced hillside. Above the houses rise the 
dark hills, and in the valley below the olive groves stretch away 
into the distance. Far down the valley to the southward can be 
seen the thriving village of 'Ain Karim, with its Franciscan Con- 
vent of St. John in the Desert, marking the traditional site of the 
birthplace of John the Baptist. 

The road now turns into Wady Beit Hanina, and ascends it for 
half an hour or more, passing through vineyards and fig orchards, 
interspersed with olive trees. It then mounts to the high table- 
land around the Holy City, and for about an hour lies along this 
dreary plateau — as bleak and forbidding a region as can be found 



364 AROUND THE WORLD. 

in all Judaea. At the end of this time the long stretch of wall 
enclosing the minarets and domes of the Holy City comes in 
sight. 

At this point the travellers were met by a horseman who told 
them that a large company had assembled a short distance from 
the city to welcome them. " In a few minutes," says Mr. Young, 
in his letter to the New York Herald, " we come in view of the 
group. We see a troop of cavalry in line, representatives from 
all the consulates, a body of Americans, delegations from the 
Jews, the Greeks, the Armenians ; the representative of the Pacha 
— in fact, quite a small army. The dragoman of our consulate 
carries an American flag. As we drive on, the consul, Mr. Wil- 
son, and the Pacha's lieutenant, ride toward us, and there is a 
cordial welcome to Jerusalem. We had expected to enter Jeru- 
salem in our quiet, plain way, pilgrims really coming to see the 
Holy City, awed by its renowned memories. But, lo ! and behold, 
here is an army with banners, and we are commanded to enter as 
conquerors, in a triumphal manner ! Well, I know of one in that 
company who looked with sorrow upon the pageant, and he it 
was for whom it was intended. 

" There was no help for it ; so we assembled, and were in due 
form presented, and there were coffee and cigars. More than 
all, there were horses — for the General the Pacha's own white 
steed, in housings of gold. It was well that this courtesy had 
been prompted, for the bridge over the brook was gone, and our 
carts would have made a sorry crossing. We set out, the Gen- 
eral thinking no doubt that his campaign to enter Jerusalem at five 
had been frustrated by an enemy upon whom we had not counted. 
We trailed up the winding ways of the hill. The valley passes 
away. We ride about a mile through a suburb, the highway 
lined with people. The General passes on with bared head, for 
on both sides the assembled multitude do him honor. We see 
through the mist a mass of domes and towers, and the heart 
beats quickly, for we know they are the domes and towers of 
Jerusalem. There are ranks of soldiers drawn in line, the sol- 
diers presenting arms, the band playing, the colors falling. We 
pass through a narrow gate, the gate that Tancred forced with 



m 




(365) 



366 AROUND THE WORLD. 

his crusaders. We pass under the walls of the tower of David, 
and the flag that floats from the pole on the consulate tells us that 
our journey is at an end and that we are within the walls of 
Jerusalem. 

" We were taken to a small hotel — the only one of any value 
in the town. As I lean over the balcony I look out upon an open 
street or market place where Arabs are selling fruits and grain, 
and heavy-laden peasants are bearing skins filled with water and 
wine. The market place swarms with Jews, Arabs, Moslems, 
Christians. Horsemen are prancing about, while the comely 
young officer in command sits waiting, calmly smoking his cigar- 
ette. A group of beggars, with petitions in their hands, crowd 
the door of the hotel, waiting the coming of the man who, having 
ruled forty millions of people, can, they believe, by a wave of the 
hand, alleviate their woes." 

General Grant reached Jerusalem on Monday, February nth, 
and remained there until the following Saturday, visiting the vari- 
ous points of interest, and making excursions to Bethlehem, 
Bethany, and other places. 

During his stay in Jerusalem the General was the recipient of 
distinguished attentions at the hands of the Turkish authorities 
and the consuls. The Pacha called upon him in state, and ex- 
pressed his sense of the honor conferred upon Palestine by the 
General's visit. The General returned this call with due cere- 
mony. The bishops and patriarchs called, and blessed the Gen- 
eral and the house in which he lodged. The Pacha offered to 
send a brass band of fifty pieces to accompany the General in his 
rambles through the city, but this honor was declined, the Gen- 
eral accepting the band for an hour each evening while at dinner. 
The Pacha, on hospitable thoughts intent, entertained General 
Grant and his party at a state dinner, which was a very pleasant 
affair. The rest of the time was passed by the General in sight- 
seeing. 

Jerusalem, or El-Kuds, "the holy," as it is called by the 
Arabs, stands on the summit of the wide mountain ridge which 
extends from the Plain of Esdraelon on the north to the desert 
of Beer-sheba on the south, and which has for its eastern border 



THE HOLY LAND, TURKEY, AND GREECE. 367 

the Valley of the Jordan and the Dead Sea, and for its western 
the plains of Sharon and Philistia. From whatever part of the 
Holy Land one approaches the city, an ascent to the level upon 
which it stands becomes necessary, so that the expression "going 
up to Jerusalem" is literally true. 

The elevation of the city above the level of the sea, according 
to Dr. Robinson, is 2,500 feet, and the same writer states its 
mean geographical position as in latitude 31 ° 46' 43" N., and 
longitude 35 13' E. from Greenwich. 

Two valleys begin amid the broken summit of the mountain 
ridge, and, starting as mere gentle depressions, deepen as they 
pursue their course, which is at first to the eastward. The north- 
ern valley, after following an easterly course for about a mile and 
a half, turns suddenly to the southward. It now falls rapidly, 
becoming a wild, narrow gorge, with precipitous sides. The 
other valley changes its course to the southward about three- 
quarters of a mile from its head, and flows in this direction for 
about three-quarters of a mile more, when it is turned suddenly 
to the eastward by the projecting shoulder of a rocky hill. It 
falls rapidly, descending from this point between broken cliffs on 
the right hand and shelving banks on the left, and after pursuing 
an easterly course for half a mile, falls into the ravine first men- 
tioned. The northern ravine is called the Valley of the Kidron, 
and the other the Valley of Hinnom. On the broad ridge which 
they enclose stands the city of Jerusalem. The ridge is itself 
divided by a third valley, called the Tyropceon, which traverses 
the citv in a slight curve from northwest to southwest, and falls 
into the Valley of the Kidron a short distance above its junction 
with the Valley of Hinnom. The portion of the ridge lying to the 
w r est of the Tyropceon is the Mount Zion, and that on the east 
the Mount Moriah of the Bible. 

Higher summits enclose Jerusalem on every side. None of 
them can be called mountains: they are simply "rounded, irregu- 
lar ridges, overtopping the buildings of the city from fifty to 200 
feet, with openings here and there, through which glimpses of 
the more distant country are obtained. On the east is the triple- 
topped Mount of Olives, its terraced sides rising steeply from the 



368 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Valley of Jehoshaphat. On the south is the so-called Hill of 
Evil Counsel, overhanging the ravine of Hinnom. On the west 
the ground ascends to the brow of Wady Beit Hanina, some two 
miles distant. On the north is the hill Scopus, a western projec- 
tion of the ridge of Olivet." "As the mountains stand about 
Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people." 

Jerusalem is enclosed with lofty walls of hewn stone, imposing 
in appearance, but so weak in reality that they would offer no 
obstacle to a tolerably well-served battery of artillery. They 
are constructed of the materials used in the former walls, and 
occupy the site of the walls of the Middle Ages, which were sev- 
eral times destroyed and restored during the Crusades. They 
were erected by order of the Sultan Suleiman, in a. d. 1542. 
Weak as they are, they serve to keep Jerusalem safe from the 
Bedawin, the only danger to which it has been for many years 
exposed. 

Just within the wall are the foundations of an ancient tower, 
to which the name of Kulat el-Jalud, "Goliath's Castle," has been 
given. This angle is the highest point in the city, and from it a 
fine view of Jerusalem may be obtained. From this point the 
western wall runs southeast to the Jaffa Gate, and thence due 
south along the brow of the Valley of Hinnom. The citadel is 
located along this wall, immediately south of the Jaffa Gate. The 
southern wall passes across the level summit of Zion in an east- 
erly direction, and then in an irregular manner, with frequent 
projections, in a generally northeast direction to the point where 
it joins the southern wall of the Haram. The walls are sur- 
mounted by battlements crowning a breast-work with loopholes, 
and at a number of prominent points stately towers rise to a 
considerable height above the walls. 

The modern city does not cover as much ground as ancient 
Jerusalem. A large part of Zion is excluded by the present wall, 
and on the north and west are extensive areas which formed a 
part of the ancient city. But the modern walls, circumscribed as 
they are, enclose a space which is not all occupied by the build- 
ings of the city. There seems to be an abundance of spare room 
in Jerusalem. Besides the large open space, partly covered with 




24 



(369) 



3JO AROUND THE WORLD. 

rubbish, which extends from the Zion Gate to the Haram wall, 
there are a number of large gardens which occupy considerable 
room. 

Jerusalem is better built and more regularly laid off than most 
Eastern cities. The prevailing color is a reddish gray, and the 
houses are built of stone. As in all Oriental cities, they present 
a monotonous appearance. 

No Eastern city has names for its streets, and the names by 
which the Franks call the thoroughfares of Jerusalem have no of- 
ficial existence, and are scarcely known to the native inhabitants. 
They have been given by strangers from beyond the sea, and are 
to be found principally in European maps and in the writings of 
travellers. Two principal streets may be taken as the key to the 
whole network of thoroughfares. One of these extends directly 
across the city from the Jaffa Gate to the principal entrance to 
the Haram. Mr. Williams has given to it the name of the Street 
of David, and the title has been commonly adopted by travellers. 
The other crosses the city from north to south, from the Damascus 
Gate to the southern wall, terminating a little to the east of the 
Zion Gate. It traverses the principal bazaar, and passes a little 
to the east of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The northern 
portion of it is called "the Street of the Gate of the Column," and 
the southern "the Street of the Gate of the Prophet David." 
These two thoroughfares divide the city into four quarters. 
North of the Street of David, and west of the Street of the Gate 
of the Column, is the Christian Quarter, immediately opposite 
which, and north of the Street of David, is the Mohammedan 
Quarter. South of the Street of David are the Armenian and 
Jewish Quarters, the former lying west of the Street of the Gate 
of the Prophet David, and the latter east of it. 

The Mohammedan Quarter contains the Serai or palace of 
the Pacha, a large straggling structure, and the Haram, which 
adjoins it on the east. Several of the principal consulates, the 
Church of St. Anne, and the new Austrian Hospice are also lo- 
cated in this quarter. The principal buildings in the Christian 
Quarter are the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Latin 
and Greek Convents. The Armenian Ouarter contains the 



THE HOLY LAND, TURKEY, AND GREECE. 37 1 

Armenian Convent, the largest edifice in the city, the Protestant 
Church, and the Citadel. The Jewish Quarter has no edifice 
of note. 

There are two other streets which deserve special notice. 
One is called Christian Street, and runs northward from the 
Street of David, passing between the Greek Convent and the 
Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It contains a number of Frank 
shops, and is the principal approach to the Church of the Sepul- 
chre. The other street runs from the Latin Convent, "passes 
down through gloomy archways to the bed of the Tyropceon, 
and then, after two sharp turns, strikes across in front of the 
Serai to St. Stephen's Gate." This is called by the natives the 
Street of the Palace. It is the Via Dolorosa of the monks, alone 
which they maintain the Saviour bore his cross on the way to 
Calvary. 

The streets of Jerusalem are narrow and unpaved except in 
the markets and bazaars. In these places the pavement is old 
and dilapidated, such an idea as repairing it never entering the 
head of any inhabitant. In front of the shops in the Street of 
David is a pavement of cobble-stones of the roughest kind. The 
alleys of the bazaars are paved with marble, which in some places 
has sunk beneath the mud. An open sewer runs down each 
street, and along this lie the accumulations of dirt and filth which 
are left for the rain to wash away. It is said that once or twice, 
when the filth assumed such proportions as to threaten the city 
with pestilence, the gates have been left open at night in order 
that the hyenas might enter and devour the offal. This is a dan- 
gerous remedy, however, as the Bedawin might enter with the 
beasts of prey, and rid Jerusalem of more than its filth. 

To the Frank the Jerusalem streets are picturesque and inter- 
esting. The houses which line them are tall, dark, and plain in 
front. The lower portions and the vaults sometimes date back 
to remote ages, and many of these structures were standing in 
the days of Saladin. Some of them have bevelled foundation 
stones, and the arches and jambs are admirable specimens of 
Saracenic architecture. The streets are narrow, and the houses 
are close together. The street floors in many instances are 



3/2 AROUND THE WORLD. 

occupied with shops and coffee-houses. Many public buildings, 
some in ruins, convents, monasteries, hospices, churches, mosques, 
are scattered through the city, and in the vaults of some of these 
the Arabs and Jews have established baths, stables, and work- 
shops. "The fallen hospice of the Knights Templar, on land 
adjoining the Holy Sepulchre, affords shelter in its vaults to a 
great many braziers, barbers, and corn chandlers ; one room in 
the great ruin being used for a bazaar, another for a tannery, a 
third for a public bath." 

At night the streets are dark and deserted. Here and there 
you may see a human being moving about carrying a lantern, or 
preceded by a servant bearing one. No one ventures to stir out 
in Jerusalem without a light at night, lest he should be arrested 
as a thief. Few care to be absent from their homes at such a 
time, and the only persons to be met with in the streets between 
sunset and sunrise are the military officers visiting their posts, 
the consuls or their servants going to or returning from a visit 
to some European. In one sense the streets are dangerous 
after nightfall, for the hungry dogs, who are as savage and 
daring as wolves, prowl in them by night, seeking food amid the 
heaps of filth in the gutters, and they are dangerous to encoun- 
ter. The fate of the wicked Jezebel is an excellent illustration 
of the extent to which the savage nature of these beasts will 
carry them. 

Night is the Syrian's time for rest and sleep. He has little 
use for lamps, and his house is lit up by the feeblest glimmer. 
The bazaars, shops, and baths are closed, and business and 
labor end at twilight, and when the darkness has fairly settled 
down the city is so still that you might think it a habitation of 
the dead. 

As soon as the sun goes down all the gates of the city except 
the Jaffa Gate are closed and locked. This one stands open for 
half an hour longer, but then the heavy oaken door swings to, 
the officer of the guard turns the key, and no one may pass in 
or out of Jerusalem without a written order from the Pacha. It 
is said, however, that a few piasters slipped through the grated 
opening will sometimes cause the huge gate to swing back just 
far enough to admit a belated traveller and his beast. 



THE HOLY LAND, TURKEY, AND GREECE. 373 

The population of Jerusalem is variously estimated by different 
writers. Dr. Porter gives it at 1 6,000, which, he states, is " as 
close an approximate to the true numbers as can be made under 
present circumstances." He estimates the different sects as 
follows: Moslems, 4,000; Jews, 8,000; Greeks, 1,800; Latins, 
1,300; other sects, 900. Total, 16,000. The Mohammedans are 
generally native Syrians. A few of them are foreigners — Turks, 
in the service of the government, and Dervishes, a set of idle 
and dangerous fanatics, who are supported from the revenues of 
the Haram. 

The greater number of the Jews of Jerusalem have come to 
the Holy City with but one thought, to pass the remainder of 
their days in the ancient home of their fathers, and to lay their 
bones in the sacred soil of the Valley of Jehoshaphat. They live 
for the most part in poverty and filth, and are supported by the 
alms of their charitable brethren in other countries. 

The government is a poor affair at the best. The Pacha is 
the highest authority, and his power extends over a considerable 
district beyond the city. He has subject to him six Mudirs, or 
civil governors, namely, those of Jerusalem, Hebron, Gaza, Jaffa, 
Ramleh, and Lydda. 

There are two Governors of Jerusalem, the Mudir, or civil 
governor, and the military governor. Several courts administer 
justice. These are as follows : "I. The Muhkameh (Justice), of 
which the kadi (judge) is president. His salary is 7,000 piasters 
(about $280) per month. II. The Mejlis el Edara, composed 
of seven members — four Turks, two Christians (Latin and 
Greek), and one Jew. Each member receives a salary of 400 
piasters a month. The kadi and mufti are members ex officio. 
III. The Mejlis Daawe^ composed of three Turks, one Jew, and 
two Christians (Latin and Greek). IV. The Mejlis el Tedjh&7'a 
(Tribunal of Commerce), composed of three Turks, two Chris- 
tians, one Protestant, and one Armenian. V. The Mejlis el 
Beladi (Municipal Council), composed of president, vice-presi- 
dent, treasurer, inspector of works, clerks (all Turks), and eight 
assessors, viz., two Turks, three native Christians, three Europeans 
chosen by the consuls, viz., two Jews and drie Christian. 



374 AROUND THE WORLD. 

"The revenue is derived from two sources: ist. From direct 
taxation, Mai el Mira, a tax levied on persons, cattle, land, and 
fruit trees. 2d. Gate duties: tobacco and silk pay about forty 
cents per pound ; and all other articles of commerce, as well as 
vegetables and fruit, eight per cent., either in kind or money." 

If Jerusalem were cleaner and better policed, it would be on 
the whole one of the pleasantest of Oriental cities, for the climate 
is mild and healthy, and the fevers which prevail during the sum- 
mer and autumn are almost entirely due to the filthy condition of 
the city and the imperfect construction of the houses, which are 
without sewers, and many of them damp and badly ventilated. 

Life in Jerusalem is dull enough to the natives. To the Eu- 
ropean or American it is dreary beyond expression. One is cut 
off from the entire world here. The comino- and going- of 
travellers is the only thing which occurs to break the monotony. 
The consuls are the great personages of the city next to the 
pacha, and it is to them, and not to the government, that the 
Franks look for protection and redress. 

One of the most interesting places in Jerusalem is the site of 
the ancient Jewish Temple, now occupied by the Mosque of 
Omar, or, as the Arabs call it, the Haram esh-Sherif, " The Most 
Noble Sanctuary." This Mosque stands on a platform con 
structed of stone, which is the platform on which the Temple 
stood. It occupies the summit of Mount Moriah, and is enclosed 
and supported by massive walls built up from the declivities of 
the hills on three sides. 

No mortar or cement is used in the construction of the walls 
of the platform. The lower layers are believed to be bound 
together with bands of lead or iron run through them. The 
dressing on the upper and under surface and at the two ends of 
all the stones is so perfect that a knife cannot be inserted 
between any two stones. They are placed one above the other, 
each stone being set half an inch to an inch farther back, so that 
the wall is not perpendicular, but stands at a slight angle. This 
being the case no supports of any kind are needed to sustain the 
wall. 

Entrance to the Haram enclosure was formerly denied to- 







575) 



376 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Christians, and the fanatical dervishes who infest the place stood 
ready to punish with their daggers any unbeliever bold enough 
to profane the holy place with his presence. The Sultan has now 
thrown the area and the principal buildings open to travellers 
upon certain conditions easily complied with. Admission is ob- 
tained through the consul of one's country, who sends a kavass 
or consular agent with the visitor, to pass him by the guards at 
the gates, and to protect him from the fanaticism of the dervishes. 

The principal entrance is Bdb-es-Silsileh, the " Gate of the 
Chain," in the western wall. The western side of the enclosure 
is bordered by a long range of cloisters, built in the fourteenth 
century, with square pillars and pointed arches, which occupy 
nearly the entire line of the western wall. Adjoining the clois- 
ters are several buildings used as colleges for the dervishes and 
public schools. Immediately opposite the gate is a small but 
elaborately ornamented cupola, called the Dome of Moses, built 
about a. d. i 269. 

Turning to the left, and passing between the cloisters and the 
platform of the Great Mosque, we reach the northern portion of 
the enclosure — the site of the Antonia. The general appearance 
of the enclosure is that of a park. Grass is growing in every part 
of it, even in those portions which are paved springing up 
between the stone blocks. Cypress and plane trees are scat- 
tered about the area, and several fountains surmounted by 
beautiful cupolas and a number of praying places are seen. 

At the northern end of the enclosure one can still see the 
scarped rock on which the citadel of Antonia stood, and on the 
west is a section of the massive ancient wall. Along the north- 
ern wall are the barracks of the Turkish troops, a long, irregular 
building, and immediately south of this is the Serai or Palace ol 
the Pacha. The view from this portion of the area is very beau- 
tiful. To the southward the enclosure stretches away, green and 
inviting, broken by the large platform of the Great Mosque, and 
interspersed with fine old trees and fountains. To the eastward 
is a small, graceful dome, called the Dome of Solomon, which the 
Arabs believe marks the spot where Solomon stood to pray, upon 
the completion of the Temple. Beyond this, in the eastern wall, 



THE HOLY LAND, TURKEY, AND GREECE. T,yj 

and nearly opposite the northeast angle of the platform of the 
mosque, is the inner face of the Golden Gate. Immediately 
south of where we stand is the platform upon which the great 
Dome of the Rock is erected. It is about fifteen feet above the 
general level of the Haram area, and is reached by three flights 
of stairs on the western side, two on the south, two on the north, 
and one on the east. Above these stairs are elegant pointed 
arches, which Mr. Catherwood believes are of equal antiquity 
with the mosque. Between these arches, at intervals, under and 
attached to the platform, are apartments in which the poorer 
Mohammedan pilgrims visiting the city are lodged and fed gra- 
tuitously from the funds of the mosque. The platform is about 
550 feet long from north to south, and 450 feet wide from east to 
west. It is paved with white marble, and along it are several 
small, tasteful praying-places, one of which is said to have been 
used by Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed. On the south 
side of the platform, attached to the columns, is a splendid pul- 
pit, one of the handsomest works in the enclosure. On the east 
side, within a few feet of the mosque, is a beautiful little building 
consisting of an elegant dome supported by seventeen slender 
columns. It is called the " Dome of the Chain," and was built by 
the Khalif Abd-el-Melek, as a model for the " Dome of the 
Rock," according to some authorities. The natives call it also 
the Dome of Judgment, from a tradition that the judgment-seat 
of David stood here. 

Near the centre of the platform stands the most beautiful and 
imposing edifice in Jerusalem, the Kubbet es-Sukhrah, " the 
Dome of the Rock." It is placed on the very summit of Moriah, 
on the spot which was occupied by the great altar of burnt-offer- 
ing and the Temple. It is octagonal in form, each face measuring 
sixty-seven feet. The lower portion of the walls is constructed 
of various colored marble, arranged in intricate patterns, in the 
style frequently seen in the houses of Damascus. The upper 
portion contains fifty-six pointed windows, closed with stained 
glass, equal in brilliancy of coloring to anything in the churches 
of Europe. The spaces between the windows are covered ^ex- 
ternally with glazed tiles of vivid colors, worked in beautiful ara^ 



3j8 AROUND THE WORLD. 

besque patterns, and the circular wall which sustains the dome is 
similarly ornamented. Around the whole building are two lines 
of beautifully interlaced Arabic inscriptions; over each window 
are shorter sentences in panels. The letters are wrought in the 
tiles, and the effect is very fine. The dome is one of the most 
beautiful portions of the whole structure. It is constructed of 
wood, is covered with lead, and is surmounted by a gilt crescent. 
It is light and graceful in form, and is one of the most conspicu- 
ous objects in any view of the city. There are four entrances to 
the building — one on the north, one on the east, one on the south, 
and one on the west. All but the southern door have enclosed 
marble porches. The southern door has an open porch supported 
by marble columns. 

Immediately under the dome is the Sacred Rock, from which 
the mosque is named. Leaving "the Dome of the Rock," by the 
south door, we follow the broad path to the Mosque of El-Aksa, 
which is believed to occupy the site and to follow the general 
ground plan of the basilica erected by the Emperor Justinian in 
honor of the Virgin. The mosque occupies the southwestern 
corner of the Haram area, and is built close to the south walk 
M. de Vogue declares that the edifice has been so thoroughly 
altered by the Mohammedans that it is entirely Arab as it stands ; 
" but that its form of a basilica, its. cruciform plan, and the exist- 
ence of certain ancient remains, prove that it was preceded by 
a Christian church whose ruins served as the kernel of the 
mosque." 

When the Persians captured the city, a. d. 6ii, the Church of 
St. Mary escaped destruction. Omar, upon entering Jerusalem 
in a. d. 636, prayed in it (it appears then to have been called the 
Church of the Resurrection), and the spot on which he knelt is 
still shown. About a century and a half later, the church being 
in ruins, El-Mahdi, the third Khalif of the Abassidean dynasty,, 
ordered it to be rebuilt as a mosque. Upon the capture of the 
city by the Crusaders it was restored to its uses as a Christian 
church, and was variously called "the Palace, Porch, or Temple 
of Solomon." A portion of it appears to have been at first used 
as the royal palace. Baldwin II. assigned a part to a new mill- 




(379) 



380 AROUND THE WORLD. 

tary order, which was from this circumstance called the Knights 
Templar. When Saladin retook the city he purified it, and 
made a mosque of it once more. 

The present mosque is built in the form of a basilica of seven 
aisles, and is 272 feet long, and 184 feet wide. 

In the southeast corner of the Haram area is the Mosque of 
Isa (Jesus), in which is the entrance to the vaults in this section. 

Whatever may be one's views as to the genuineness of the 
site, there can be no question that one of the most interesting 
places in the city is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, covering 
the traditional sites of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of our 
Lord. It stands in what was formerly the upper city, the ancient 
Akra, immediately south of the Street of the Palace, and west of 
the Street of the Gate of the Column. From whichever direc- 
tion one approaches it, the way lies through narrow, filthy streets 
and small bazaars, generally filled with ragged Arab women sell- 
ing vegetables and snails, the latter of which are considered a 
great delicacy in the Holy City, especially during Lent. Emerg- 
ing from these streets one enters a large square court in front of 
the church. Many persons are usually gathered here, and during 
the height of the pilgrim season the scene is quite animated. 
On the steps leading down to the court are tables spread with 
coffee, sherbet, sweetmeats, and other refreshments ; and scattered 
about the court are peddlers and the Bethlehemite vendors of 
crosses, beads, rosaries, amulets, and mother-of-pearl shells, which 
are brought from the Red Sea, and engraved with religious sub- 
jects. Here, also, one may buy models of the Holy Sepulchre, 
cut in wood, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and drinking-cups, black 
as ebony, and as highly polished, made from the deposits of the 
river Jordan, and engraved with passages of Scripture. Moving 
about the throng of dealers and buyers are numerous pilgrims, 
and monks of the various Christian denominations, entering and 
coming out of the church, Turkish soldiers, Arabs, and Euro- 
peans. A more motley throng, or more complete Babel of 
tongues, can scarcely be found in any quarter of the globe. 

At the bottom of this court rises the facade of the church, on 
the right of which is the campanile, once five stories in height, but 



THE HOLY LAND, TURKEY, AND GREECE. 38 1 

now reduced to three. The facade occupies the whole northern 
side of the court, and forms the end of the south transept. It is 
in the pointed Romanesque style, dark and heavy, but pictur- 
esque. In the lower story is a wide double doorway, ornamented 
with sculptures representing our Lord's triumphal entry into 
Jerusalem. Above the doorways rise deeply-moulded and richly- 
carved arches, in each of which is a pointed window. The west- 
ern side of the doorway alone is used now, the other having 
been walled up for several centuries. The campanile was once 
a noble building, but has suffered very much from the loss of its 
two upper stories. The lower story is now the Chapel of St. 
John. The second story has a large pointed window on each of 
its three sides, and the third story, which rises above the church, 
has plain pointed windows on each side. On the left of the 
facade, opposite the campanile, is a small projecting porch, with 
an ornamental window and a little cupola. 

Entering through the open door, one finds himself in a sort 
of vestibule, formerly the south transept, but now separated from 
the rest of the church by the filling up of the great arch leading 
to the nave, and by the arrangement of the chapels of Golgotha 
on the right hand as we enter. Just within the door, and to the 
left, is stationed the Turkish guard kept here for the purpose 
of maintaining order among the rival sects which occupy the 
church. 

Immediately in front of the door is a marble slab, set in the 
Moor, and enclosed with a low railing, with several lamps sus- 
pended over it. The monks call this the Stone of Unction, and 
assert that upon the rock covered by the marble slab which has 
been placed here to protect the real stone from the pilgrims, 
pur /Lord's body was laid while it was being washed and anointed 
for the tomb, when removed from the cross. A little farther on 
to the left, they show you the spot where the Virgin Mary stood 
during the anointing of the Lord's body. This part of the church 
belongs to the Armenians. 

Passing under a massive arch, we enter the Rotunda, an im- 
posing chamber sixty-seven feet in diameter, " encircled by 
eighteen massive pillars, supporting a clerestory pierced with 



382 AROUND THE WORLD. 

windows and surmounted by a dome having an opening at the 
top, like the Pantheon. A vaulted aisle runs round the western 
half of the Rotunda ; it was formerly open, and had three small 
apses on the northwest and south. The apses still remain, but 
the aisle is divided into seven compartments, and portioned out 
amone the various sects. Over it are two ranges of galleries." 

The Rotunda constitutes the most important portion of the 
church. Immediately beneath the dome is a building of yellow 
and white stone, adorned with delicate semi-columns and pilasters, 
and surmounted by a little dome. It is a gaudy structure, with- 
out taste, but is the most sacred place in the church. The entrance 
to it is on the eastern side, and the approach to it is lined with 
massive candlesticks, with tall wax candles, which are kept con- 
stantly burning. Passing through the small doorway, you enter 
the first apartment of the Holy Sepulchre, called the Chapel of 
the Angel. It is here, the monks assert, that the angel sat on 
the stone which he had rolled away from the tomb of Jesus. A 
small fragment of the original stone stands on a little pedestal 
in the middle of the chapel. Some deny the genuineness of this 
stone, and assert that the real one was stolen by the Armenians, 
and is now in their chapel in the House of Caiaphas, outside the 
Zion Gate. At the farther end of the chapel is a low, narrow 
opening, through which a bright light streams out; and, entering 
through this, we stand in the Holy Sepulchre itself, the very tomb, 
according to the monks % in which Joseph and Nicodemus laid the 
body of the crucified Jesus. 

The sepulchre is a quadrangular vault, about seven feet long 
by six feet wide, and the low roof is supported by short marble 
pillars. On your right as you enter is a slab or shelf covering 
a niche extending along the whole side of the sepulchre. This 
is the sepulchral couch on which the body of the Lord lay. It is 
encased in white marble to preserve it, and the slab, worn at the 
edge with the passionate kisses of pilgrims, and cracked through 
the middle, is now used as an altar, and is covered with numerous 
ornaments, pictures, and a bas relief representing the Resurrec- 
tion. Forty-three lamps of gold and silver are kept constantly 
burning over it, and the fumes of incense fill the air with a half- 



THE HOLY LAND, TURKEY, AND GREECE. 383 

intoxicating perfume. It is said that the vault is hewn in the 
rock, but no trace of the natural rock can now be found, the 
whole structure being of marble, and in many places black with 
the smoke of the lamps and incense. 

A monk is constantly on the watch in the sepulchre to take 
care of the lamps and other property there, and to see that no 
unseemly conduct takes place among the visitors. There is little 
danger of such disturbance, however, for the great majority of 
the visitors are pilgrims who believe devoutly in the genuineness 
of the tomb, and who come creeping into it with hearts full of 
the most reverent devotion, and eyes blinded with penitential 
tears. Sobbing violently, they approach the altar on their knees, 
and press passionate kisses upon the marble slab, or bathe it with 
tears. It is a touching sight to watch them, and though one may 
be firmly persuaded that this is not the true sepulchre, it is im- 
possible for a sensitive soul not to be moved by the influences of 
the place and the scene. 

Opening into the Rotunda are the several chapels of the dif- 
ferent denominations. 

The street which leads from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre 
to the Governor's house is narrow and crooked, a mere zigzag 
lane ; but it is regarded by many persons as the most interesting 
thoroughfare in the city. The monks call it Via Dolorosa, and 
claim that it is the street along which the Saviour bore His cross 
from the judgment hall to the place of crucifixion. There is no 
mention of this street and its eight stations until the fourteenth 
century, but since then the monks have made such good use of 
their inventive faculties that it is known throughout the world. 
They have lined it with traditions and holy places, and these are 
accepted without question by the throngs of pilgrims that annu- 
ally visit the Holy City. It seems hardly necessary to remind 
the reader that this portion of the city was entirely destroyed by 
Titus after its capture, not a building being left standing. Yet 
this street in the modern city, according to the good fathers, fol- 
lows the exact line of the ancient thoroughfare, and along its 
course are buildings still in an excellent state of preservation, 
which they maintain escaped the general destruction of the siege, 



384 AROUND THE WORLD. 

and have remained until the present day. In order to accept the 
modern Via Dolorosa as genuine, it is necessary to believe that 
the miracle, which it is clamed was vouchsafed to Constantine in 
the discovery of the Holy Sepulchre, has been far outdone in the 
identification of this street and the sites alone its course. 

Yet even the most sceptical mind will find enjoyment in a walk 
through the Via Dolorosa, for it is in itself a most interesting 
street. It is very tortuous, turning not only often, but very 
sharply, crossed here and there by an arch, and shut in on each 
side by lofty walls of houses pierced at intervals with a low door- 
way or a barred window. The pavement is rugged and worn 
by the feet of the countless pilgrims that have traversed it. It 
is a gloomy street, too, lying almost wholly in the shade, with 
only here and there a gleam of sunshine breaking into it and 
lighting it up for a little way. 

On the left bank of the Kidron, on the. slope of the Mount of 
Olives, just beyond the bridge over the dry bed of the torrent, 
and nearly opposite St. Stephen's Gate, is a small square en- 
closure, surrounded by a high white wall. This is the traditional 
site of the Garden of Gethsemane, the favorite place of retire- 
ment of the Saviour, and the scene of His agony and arrest on 
the night preceding the crucifixion. Only eight stunted olive 
trees remain in the enclosure. Their trunks are propped up by 
stones, but their branches, though scanty, still blossom. Although 
so close to the. public road, the place is peaceful and retired, and 
the view from it is attractive. The Kidron extends above and 
below it. On the left, looking up the ravine, is the lofty wall of 
the Temple platform, and immediately over the garden rise the 
heights of Olivet. The stillness is unbroken, and one may sit 
and muse here for hours upon the solemn scenes which the place 
commemorates, undisturbed by a sound. 

Whether this is indeed the site of the garden to which the 
Lord was wont to retire, it is impossible to say. The location 
was fixed upon during the visit of Helena to Jerusalem, in a. d. 
326; but whether it be the true site or not, there is every reason 
to believe that the ancient garden stood somewhere in this vicin- 
ity; and it may be that the present enclosure formed a part of it, 



THE HOLY LAND, TURKEY, AND GREECE. 385 

for it would seem that the garden frequented by Jesus was much 
larger than the present Gethsemane. 

The monks, however, have characteristically improved upon 
the ancient site, and, instead of leaving us only a simple garden 
for our contemplation, have manufactured a series of holy places 
which go far to rob the place of its charms for the intelligent 
visitor. You are shown a rocky bank where the wearied apostles 
fell asleep when their Lord left them to pray. The guide points 
out the impressions of their bodies still remaining in the rock. 
There is a cave of some depth in the garden called the "Grotto 
of the Agony," as the tradition makes it the scene of our Lord's 
agony and bloody sweat upon the night of His betrayal. There 
is no warrant for believing that this solemn event occurred in 
the gloomy recesses of a cave. It is more natural to think 
that the great struggle was fought out under the open heavens, 
beneath the light of the stars, and where Jesus could look up into 
the far depths beyond which lay the home He had left for man's 
redemption. The monks also show the place where Judas 
betrayed the Lord. 

One of the pleasantest excursions made by General Grant and 
his party was to Bethlehem, the birthplace of David, and of 
David's greater Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

The town of Bethlehem lies on a narrow ridge, which breaks 
away to the eastward from the central mountain range, and falls 
off on the northeast and south into deep, wild valleys, the slopes 
of the hill being formed into large and steep terraces, which are 
laid off with the regularity of steps, and are well kept and care- 
fully cultivated. The town consists of a single main street, at 
the eastern end of which, on the brow of the hill, and separated 
from the rest of the houses by a wide open space, stands the 
Great Convent, a massive structure, which includes the Church 
of the Nativity and three convents, belonging to the Latins, 
Greeks, and Armenians respectively. Bethlehem is one of the 
cleanest places in the East; and its women are celebrated for 
their beauty, which is of a European rather than an Eastern type. 
The inhabitants number about 3,000, and are all Christians. 
There was formerly a Mohammedan quarter, but it was destroyed 
25 



386 AROUND THE WORLD. 

in 1834, by Ibrahim Pacha, as a punishment for the rebellion of 
the inhabitants. The houses are small, but are solidly built, and 
the town has a generally more respectable air than is character- 
istic of the villages of Palestine. The inhabitants belong entirely 
to the peasant class, and depend upon the cultivation of their, 
fields and vineyards for their support. The only articles of com- 
merce made here are crucifixes, rosaries, and models of the Holy 
Sepulchre carved out of olive wood, and inlaid with mother-of- 
pearl. They are a restless, turbulent set, these Bethlehemites, 
prone to quarrel with their neighbors, and sometimes give con- 
siderable trouble to the authorities of Jerusalem. 

The Convent is the usual resting-place of travellers in Beth- 
lehem, and is the only attraction of the town. It stands at the 
extreme eastern end of the town, on the brow of the hill, and is 
a plain, ugly building, with nothing remarkable about it but its 
great size and enormous strength. The three convents into 
which the establishment is divided are unattractive and uncom- 
fortable. The Church of the Nativity constitutes the principal 
portion of the establishment, and stands over the grotto which 
the monks declare to be the stable in which the Saviour was 
born. This grotto was honored as early as the second century, 
and in a. d. 327 the Empress Helena built over it the splendid 
basilica which remains to-day in a ruined condition. The church 
is about 120 feet long by 1 10 feet wide, and is divided into a nave 
and four aisles by rows of Corinthian columns of marble. 

A narrow and crooked passage leads into the Chapel of the 
Nativity, the holiest place in Bethlehem. The chapel is a low 
vault, about thirty-eight feet long by eleven feet wide, and is evi- 
dently hewn in the rock. At the east end is a semicircular niche, 
said to mark the precise spot where our Lord was born. A 
marble slab is set in the floor, and inscribed with the words, 
"Hie De Virgine Maria Jesus Christus Natus Est" — " Here Jesus 
Christ was born of the Virgin Mary." A silver star forms the 
centre of the slab, and around it are suspended sixteen silver 
lamps, which are kept burning always. The sides of the niche 
are decorated with little gilt pictures. A plain altar stands over 
the star. It is common to all the sects, and is dressed by each 



THE HOLY LAND, TURKEY, AND GREECE. 387 

according to its own ritual at the celebration of mass. At the 
south side of the Chapel of the Nativity is the Praesepium, or 
Chapel of the Manger. The manger, which is now represented 
by a marble trough, is at the west side. The Latins state that the 
real manger was carried away long ago, and is now in the Church 
of Santa Maria Maggiore, at Rome. A painting of the Adora- 
tion of the Shepherds hangs over the manger. On the opposite 
side is the spot where the Wise Men stood, marked by a painting 
commemorating that event. 

Leaving Jerusalem, General Grant and his party journeyed 
northward to Damascus. The route lay by Shiloh, where the 
Tabernacle was set up after the conquest of the land by the 
Israelites, to Nabulus, where but a brief halt was made. This 
famous city — the Shechem of the Bible — lies almost entirely on 
the south side of the valley, at the foot of Mount Gerizim, and is 
built upon the water-shed of the valley. "The waters on the 
eastern part," says Dr. Robinson, " flow off east into the plain, 
and so to the Jordan ; while the fine fountains on the western 
side send off a pretty brook down the valley northwest towards 
the Mediterranean." The town is long and narrow, clinging 
closely to the mountain side. The valley is only about seventy- 
five yards wide here, and the mountains rise up so abruptly as 
almost to leave Nabulus in a perpetual shadow. The town, 
lying upon the highest point of the valley, can be seen from 
either the east or west ends of it, and from whatever point it is 
viewed presents a most pleasing appearance. It is literally 
embowered in a mass of foliage of every hue, and above this rise 
the white domes and minarets in striking contrast with the rich 
green of the trees. The houses are built of stone, and resemble 
in style and appearance those of Jerusalem, especially in being 
nearly all crowned with the little domes which are so common in 
the Holy City. The streets are narrow and dirty, and the houses 
almost everywhere project over and cover them, being supported 
on arches, thus giving to them the appearance of dark narrow 
tunnels. A few traces of the ancient city may be seen in the 
streets, or built into the walls of the houses, but the town is 
essentially modern, and has no antiquities to interest the visitor. 



388 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Its elevation is about 1,800 feet below the level of the Mediter- 
ranean, and above it Ebal and Gerizim rise to a height of 800 
feet. 

Nabulus is a place of considerable commercial importance. 
Its chief productions are soap, cotton and oil. The town con- 
tains extensive soap works, and large quantities of soap are 
made here, and exported to all parts of the east on camels. 
Olives are raised in immense quantities in the district of Nabulus, 
and the oil made from them is considered the best in Syria. 

From Nabulus the travellers pressed on rapidly to Nazareth, 
passing Samaria, Jenin, the waters of Megiddo, and striking 
across the great plain of Esdraelon, the battle-field of Palestine. 
Distant views were caught of the scene of Joshua's great victory, 
of Mount Gilboa, of Jezreel, of the scene of Gideon's wonderful 
exploits, of Mount Carmel, of Little Hermon, of Endor, of Mount 
Tabor, and of Nain, the scene of the Saviour's miracle, and at 
last Nazareth was reached. 

Nazareth, called by the Arabs en-Nasirah, lies upon the 
western side of a narrow, oblong basin, or valley, about a mile 
in length by half a mile in breadth. The valley lies high up 
among the hills that form the northern border of the plain of 
Esdraelon, and is covered with fields of grain. In the centre is a 
section of garden-land enclosed with hedges of cactus. Through 
the valley olive trees are numerous, growing singly sometimes, 
and sometimes in clumps. Fig trees and strips of grain grow 
along the hill-sides which shut in the valley, and thyme and wild 
shrubs are also found upon thern in abundance. The houses of 
the town stand upon the lower part of the slope of the western 
hill, and are built partly on the declivities of the ravines which 
seam this part of the hill, and which are three or four in number, 
and partly in the ravines themselves. "The houses in some 
places seem to cling to the sides of the precipices, in others they 
nestle in glens, and in others they stand boldly out overlooking 
the valley." The most conspicuous building is the Latin Con- 
vent, back of which soars the tall, white minaret of a mosque. 
The hill, which rises steep and high above the town, is crowned 
with a Mohammedan wely. The houses of Nazareth are built 



ii'iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii'iiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiii 



iPP! | i'v l ''.' ,|,i ^^S 



Ml 



'.i !i . : i' ! 'i:.' 



P m pi 



1 I 



1 T ' 



I I'.i'i 



i! i:ii ''i; 



LIIIIII|||| 
1,111! 



. . . ■ ■■ i ' y.- '.i.'j'-.'- Ul.Uilyiii 




(3S9) 



390 AROUND THE WORLD. 

of stone, and are generally neatly and substantially constructed. 
They have flat, terraced roofs, and one does not see here the 
domes so common in Jerusalem, Hebron and Nabulus. At a 
distance the town has a singularly clean look ; but upon entering 
the place, the streets are found to be narrower and dirtier than 
is common in the East. 

The population is estimated by Dr. Robinson at 3,120 souls, 
viz.: Greeks, 1,040; Greek Catholics, 520; Latins, 480; Maron- 
ites, 400 ; Moslems, 680. Dr. Porter, however, thinks the 
population may be safely set down at 4,000 souls, " exclusive of 
the strangers that flock to it periodically at the feasts." The 
Christians being the ruling power here, have more manliness 
and independence about them than is generally seen in Syrian 
Christians. They are admitted by all observers to be superior 
in dress, manners, and material comforts to those of Jerusalem 
or any other community of Palestine. The women are noted for 
their beauty. 

The principal edifice of the town is the Latin Convent. It is 
an irregular mass of buildings, enclosed with a high, blank wall. 
Just within the gate, and opening upon a roughly-paved court, 
are the reception-rooms, the school, and pharmacy; and beyond 
this court, and at the lower end of a smaller one connected with 
it, is the church. The interior is a square of about seventy feet, 
with a vaulted roof supported by four large columns which also 
divide the church into nave and aisles. The walls are covered 
with canvas hangings, painted in imitation of tapestry, and repre- 
senting scriptural scenes connected with the place. A broad 
flight of stairs near the main entrance leads down to the Grotto 
of the Annunciation, for the Latins deny the Greek tradition, and 
claim this as the true scene of the salutation of Gabriel. The 
stairs lead to a vestibule, from which a low, arched doorway 
admits the visitor to the grotto, which is about the same size as 
the vestibule — -about twenty-five feet wide by ten feet deep. The 
holy place and the vestibule are both encased in marble. At the 
end of the sanctum opposite the entrance is an altar of white 
marble, beneath which is a marble slab with a cross in the centre, 
said by the monks to mark the spot where Mary stood during 



THE HOLY LAND, TURKEY, AND GREECE. 39 1 

her interview with Gabriel. On the left of the altar a fragment 
of a granite column hangs from the roof, and below it is the 
fragment of one of marble. " This column, the monks inform us, 
was hacked through by the infidels in the vain attempt to pull 
down the roof, but was miraculously sustained in its place without 
visible support." There is a little curtain behind this column 
which covers another column, which in its turn screens a little 
niche, from which the good fathers say the angel Gabriel made 
his appearance at the time of the Annunciation. Silver lamps are 
suspended in the sanctum and vestibule, and over the altar of 
the former is a good painting of the Annunciation by a modern 
artist, given to the church by the Emperor of Austria. On the 
right of the altar a door leads into a third apartment, in which 
the grotto has been left in its natural state, roughly hewn in the 
rock. This chamber also contains an altar, over which is a paint- 
ing of the Flight into Egypt. Above this chamber, and com- 
municating with it by a rough, rock-hewn stairway, is a low, 
rude cave, called by the monks the Virgin Mary's Kitchen. 

From Nazareth the travellers pressed on to Damascus. The 
route lay by the Sea of Galilee, Tiberias, Lake Huleh, Ca^sarea 
Philippi, and Mount Hermon, from which the travellers passed 
out of the Holy Land into Syria. 

The stay at Damascus was brief, as General Grant was anxious 
to push on and reach Constantinople. The party saw the city 
thoroughly, however, and greatly enjoyed it. 

Damascus is the oldest city in the world, and is believed to 
have been founded by Uz, the grandson of Noah. It contains 
about 160,000 inhabitants. Of these one-fifth are Christians and 
Jews, the balance Mohammedans. There is but a single hotel in 
the city, and that is poor enough. The city is four thousand years 
old, and its inhabitants, who are extremely fanatical, boast that it 
has never been under Christian sway. The city was independent 
for fourteen hundred years, when it submitted to the Babylonians 
who, with their Persian successors, held it for four hundred years. 
Alexander the Great then conquered it, and his successors 
retained it for two hundred and fifty years. It then passed into 
the hands of the Romans, who were its masters for seven centu- 



392 AROUND THE WORLD. 

ries. They yielded it to the Saracens, who ruled it four hundred 
and fifty years, and surrendered it to the Turks, its present pos- 
sessors. The city gives faithful evidence of its antiquity. 

It is celebrated for its bazaars and manufactories. These in- 
clude silk, jewelry, silver and copper ware, leather, tents, harness, 
and boots and shoes. With the exception of Constantinople, it 
is the busiest and best provided with merchandise of any city of 
Turkey. Another of its prominent features consists of its " nu- 
merous coffee houses, and shops of bakers and confectioners, 
together with its abundant supplies of meat, rice, vegetables, and 
fruits for the ordinary wants of the inhabitants." 

From a distance Damascus presents a very handsome appear- 
ance, owing to its tall minarets, which rise out of the rich groves 
by which the city is surrounded ; but the internal appearance of 
the city is plain, in consequence of the absolutely mean fronts of 
the houses. The interior of the houses is very handsome, almost 
every one having a beautiful garden, " fragrant with orange 
flowers and rose buds, a sparkling fountain fed by the waters of 
Abana or Pharpar. The ceilings are arabesque, the walls mosaic, 
the floors marble. The roofs are terraced, but those in the 
suburbs are generally covered with small cupolas. Altogether it 
is considered the most Oriental city of the world. ' The spirit of 
the Arabian Nights is prevalent in all its streets ; their fantastic 
tales are repeated to rapt audiences in the coffee houses, and 
hourly exemplified in the streets.' " 

From Damascus, the party proceeded to Beyrout, the principal 
seaport of Syria, where the " Vandalia " was in waiting to convey 
them to Constantinople. Beyrout occupies a fine situation upon 
a headland projecting into the Mediterranean. It contains about 
70,000 inhabitants, and is noted as one of the healthiest places in- 
Syria. The suburbs are quite handsome, and are mainly occu- 
pied by wealthy foreign and native merchants. Beyrout is the 
third city in Syria in size, and is rapidly becoming the most im- 
portant in a commercial sense. The large number of Europeans 
residing in it have given to it a good share of western enterprise, 
and it is actively engaged in a large and growing commerce with 
Europe and the countries of the Mediterranean. It is the port 



I i^iiiilii; : ;Mi | |i l!| | | «l !| |W ■ vr-T7^z&?vww 

' 'i' li ' '.■:.■! I , :'■-. < "V WV 




394 AROUND THE WORLD. 

of Damascus and the entire Lebanon region. The Lebanon dis- 
trict is heavily engaged in the production of raw silk, all of which 
is exported from Beyrout. The imports of Damascus and the 
region it supplies all pass through this port. It is connected 
with all the important ports of the Mediterranean by steamers, 
there being usually one steamer a week. There are several 
good hotels in the city conducted on the European plan, and 
bankers, native and foreign, are established here in numbers 
sufficient, and with facilities ample enough, to afford every assist- 
ance to commerce and to travellers. The Consul-General of the 
United States for Syria resides at Beyrout, and the leading 
nations of Europe are similarly represented. 

The harbor of Beyrout is too small for the purposes of modern 
commerce, but the Bay of St. George, which lies in front of the 
town and is sheltered by high hills, affords an excellent anchorage, 
and steamers usually lie in here, and communicate with the shore 
by boats. 

A stay of a few days was made at Beyrout by General Grant 
and party, and then embarking once more, they sailed for Con- 
stantinople, touching at Smyrna on the way. 

General Grant reached Constantinople on the 5th of March, 
1878, a few days after the treaty of San Stefano, which closed 
the war between Turkey and Russia, was signed. He was wel- 
comed to the city by the American Minister and Consul, and by 
an aide-de-camp of the Sultan. The stay made in Constanti- 
nople was brief, but pleasant, the only drawback being the ex- 
tremely unpleasant weather which prevailed. The General 
received the most cordial attention at the hands of the Turkish 
authorities, and the diplomatic representatives of the various 
European countries, particularly from Sir Henry Layard, the 
English Ambassador. 

Constantinople is a very interesting city to the traveller. It 
occupies one of the finest situations in the world, lying upon a 
tongue of land, triangular in shape, at the junction of the Bos- 
phorus and the Sea of Marmora. It may be said to stand upon 
two promontories rather than upon two continents, since the 
quarter now called Galata was reckoned, in the time of Arcadius, 



THE HOLY LAND,. TURKEY, AND GREECE. 



395 



the Thirteenth' Region, whereas Kidikeui, Chalcedon, and Scu- 
tari, situated on the opposite coast of Asia Minor, have always 
been distinct cities. The promontories on which the city is situ- 
ated are divided the one from the other by the last and largest of 
those inlets which cut the western shore of the channel, known as 
the Bosphorus. This inlet constitutes the harbor of the city, 
which is one of the finest in the world. It runs from east to 
west, and is capable of accommodating 1,200 ships. It is known 
as the Golden Horn. The Turkish name of the city is Istam- 




THE SULTAN'S PALACE, SERAGLIO POINT— CONSTANTINOPLE. 



boul, or Stamboul. It was founded by Constantine the Great, on 
the site of the ancient Byzantium, and after the disruption of the 
old Roman Empire was the capital of the Eastern Empire. To 
write its history would be to fill a volume. It remained the capital 
of the Greek or Eastern Empire until 1453, when it was captured 
by the Turks, since which time it has been the capital of the 
Turkish Empire. 

The picturesque aspect of the city is celebrated ; but the favor- 
able impression made by the beautiful hilly shores, beset with 
villas and gardens, vanishes at the first glimpse of the interior of 
the city. The streets, before the great fires of 1865, 1866, and 



;o6 



AROUND THE WORLD. 



1870, were nearly all narrow, crooked, and exceedingly dirty, the 
houses dilapidated, and the atmosphere filled with offensive odors. 
" The old city proper is twelve miles in circumference, and is 
enclosed on the land side by a triple wall and moat, which, 
although unimportant as defensive works, according to the, 
requirements of modern military science, might in an emergency 

offer considerable resistance 
to an enemy. The wall has 
twenty-seven gates. The old 
streets, the irregularity of 
which defies all efforts of the 
stranger to find his way, have, 
generally, no names, nor are 
the houses numbered ; they 
are badly paved, not lighted 
at night, and in addition to 
their general cheerlessness, 
they are the resort of thou- 
sands of ownerless dogs." 

The population is variously 
estimated at from 500,000 to 
1,000,000. 

The principal sight of Con- 
stantinople is the Seraglio or 
Palace of the Sultan. It oc- 
cupies the site of ancient By- 
zantium, is nearly three miles 
in circuit, and was built by 
Mohammed II. It is triangular in shape, and is enclosed by high 
walls with gates and towers. Within these walls are handsomely 
laid-off grounds, scattered through which are mosques, kiosks, 
palaces, baths, and other buildings, which have been erected at 
various periods by different sovereigns. The outer court is open 
to all comers, and is entered from without by a magnificent gate- 
way, with a lofty semi-circular arch. This is the Sublime Porte, 
from which the Turkish Empire takes its diplomatic name. The 
Seraglio is occupied by the wives of the Sultan, the sovereign 




MARBLE STAIRCASE IN THE SULTAN'S 
PALACE. 



THE HOLY LAND, TURKEY, AND GREECE. 



397 



himself residing in the new palace on the Bosphorus, opposite 
Scutari. 

The Mosque of St. Sophia was originally a Christian church, 
erected in honor of the Divine Wisdom. It was built by the 
Emperor Justinian, between the years 531 and 538. It is in the 
form of a Greek cross, 270 feet long by 243 feet wide, and is 
surmounted by a central dome which rises 180 feet above the 
floor. The building has, also, two larger and six smaller semi- 
domes, and four tall minarets, the latter added by the Moham- 
medans. From without, the edifice presents a magnificent 




CATHEDRAL (NOW THE MOSQUE) OF ST. SOPHIA, CONSTANTINOPLE. 

appearance. The interior is very handsome, but the effect is 
marred by the numerous cords which hang from the ceiling to 
within five feet of the floor, suspending lamps of colored glass, 
ostrich eggs, artificial horse tails, and other ornaments admired 
by the faithful. The roof rests upon one hundred and seventy 
columns of marble, granite, and porphyry, many of which were 
taken from Roman temples. The church, though undoubt- 
edly one of the grandest religious edifices in the world, has a 
gloomy and forbidding aspect. 

The Mosques of Suleiman, the Magnificent ; of Sultan Ach- 



398 



AROUND THE WORLD. 



med, and of Mohammed II., are noted edifices. The first named 
is the most beautiful in Constantinople. 

The Bazaars of Constantinople are among its chief attractions. 
These consist of large fireproof buildings lighted from above, 
in which hundreds of tradesmen and shopkeepers retail their 
wares, and some of which enclose several covered streets. 
Here are displayed in the greatest profusion all the wares 
known to the commerce of the East. They are more extensive 
than those of Damascus, and constitute almost a city within a city. 

The Sultan caused the most 
distinguished attentions to be 
shown to General Grant, but 
owing to the heavy disasters 
through which his country was 
passing, made no effort at mili- 
tary display, a forbearance en- 
tirely in accord with the Gen- 
eral's feelings. 

Immediately upon arriving at 
Constantinople, General Grant 
paid a formal visit to the Sul- 
tan, who received him most cor- 
dially, and ordered the Master 
of Ceremonies to present the 
General with an Arabian horse 
from the Imperial stables. The 
horse was not sent in time to 
be taken on board the " Vandalia," and the General sailed with- 
out it. The matter was revived, and the horse, accompanied by 
another of equal value, was sent to the American Legation, by 
the officers of which they were shipped to the United States on 
board the merchant steamer " Norman Monarch." They reached 
this country in safety, and were exhibited at the Pennsylvania 
State Agricultural Fair, in Philadelphia, in September, 1879. 

The visit to the Turkish capital at length came to a close, and 
embarking once more, the General and his party sailed for 
Greece. The run from Constantinople to the harbor of Piraeus, 




A TURKISH LADY. 




(399) 



400 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the port of Athens, was a short and pleasant one. From Piraeus 
a short railway trip of six miles took the party to Athens. Gen- 
eral Grant was cordially welcomed by General John Meredith 
Read, the American Minister to Greece, and a number of Ameri- 
cans, and was escorted to his hotel. The first visit was naturally 
paid to the King, who received the General with enthusiasm and 
presented him and his party to the Queen. Both sovereigns and 
people showered attentions upon General Grant, who was obliged 
to decline many of them in consequence of the shortness of his 
stay. A grand fete was given to the General by the King and 
Queen, which was attended by the most distinguished persons of 
the country and by the foreign ministers. Every effort was 
made to render the visit enjoyable in the highest degree. 

Modern Athens owes its importance solely to the historic 
renown of the ancient city on the site of which it stands. It is 
in part a well-built city, with bright, gay streets, but in some of 
the quarters dirt and squalor prevail. Among the public build- 
ings are the Royal Palace, a fine building, three stories in height, 
the Chamber of Deputies, the Barracks, the Mint, the Theatre, 
the National Academy, the Museum, and the Polytechnic School. 
Like the ancient city, modern Athens is built around the base of 
the hill of the Acropolis, which towers up one hundred and fifty 
feet above it. From the earliest times this rock has been the site 
of a fortress. It rises almost perpendicularly above the city, and 
was the site of the citadel and most sacred buildings of ancient 
Athens. The walls stand on the very verge of the cliff, and have 
a circumference of nearly 7,000 feet. They are of great antiquity, 
being the work of many ages — of the Pelagians, of Themistocles, 
of Cymon, of Valerian, of the Turks, and of the Venetians. 

Upon the summit of the Acropolis were located the most 
sacred Temples of the city. These were the Propylaea, which 
constituted the entrance to the sacred enclosure, the Temple of 
Victory without Wings, which is believed to have been erected 
by Cymon, the Parthenon, dedicated to Pallas Athena (or 
Minerva), the tutelary goddess of the city, the Erechtheium, a 
temple dedicated to the joint worship of Minerva and Poseidon, 
or Neptune, and a number of other temples and buildings of 
various kinds, of which nothing now remains but their ruins. 



THE HOLY LAND, TURKEY, AND GREECE. 40T 

It would be impossible within our limits to present anything 
like a description of these beautiful ruins, or of the other monu- 
ments of the past with which the city abounds. They were duly 
visited by General Grant and his party, and during one of the- 
evenings of their stay in Athens, the King caused the Acropolis 
to be brightly illuminated in his honor. A visit was made to the 
battle-field of Marathon, and on the 18th of March the General 
and his party bade adieu to Athens and embarked once more 
upon their ship. A visit was made to Corinth, where several 
days were spent in wandering through the ruins, and then the 
" Vandalia " sailed for Syracuse, where a brief stoppage was 
made to visit the ancient city. Then the "Vandalia" set sail 
once more, this time for Naples, where the General and his party 
terminated their Mediterranean voyage, and taking leave of the 
" Vandalia " and her officers, set out for Rome. 
26 



CHAPTER IX. 

ITALY, FRANCE, HOLLAND. 

Arrival of General Grant at Rome — Call of Cardinal McCloskey — Interview with the Pope — A 
Welcome from King Humbert — General Grant Visits the King — King Humbert Entertains 
General Grant at Dinner — Visit to Florence — The Uffizi Gallery — The Cathedral — Easter 
Services — General Grant at Venice — Description of the City — St. Mark's Square — The 
Cathedral — Gondolas and Gondolier — General Grant Visits Milan — Description of the 
City — The Cathedral of Milan — Visit to Genoa — General Grant Returns to Paris — The In- 
ternational Exhibition — General Grant's Visit to the Exhibition — Departure for Holland — 
Arrival of General Grant at the Hague — Enthusiastic Reception — Royal Attentions — Grant 
at Rotterdam — A State Dinner — Visit to Amsterdam — The Commercial Metropolis of 
Holland — Banquet to General Grant — The North Sea Canal — Visit to Broek — The Clean- 
est Town in the World — General Grant Leaves for Germany. 




O describe the city of Rome would be to write an entire 
volume ; therefore we must confine this narrative to 
General Grant's movements. 

General Grant and his party visited all the objects of interest in 
the city, and spent many pleasant days in examining the wonders 
of ancient and modern Rome. The Eternal City was deeply 
interesting to the General, and he studied it with an eagerness 
and attention that showed how great that interest was. St. 
Peter's — that grandest of all Christian churches — the Capitol, 
the Vatican, the ruined Colosseum, the monuments of the Caesars, 
and the remains of later glories, each and all had a charm for 
him. 

The General was fortunate in the time of his arrival at Rome. 
The excitement over the election of the new Pope had subsided, 
and Leo XIII. was comfortably seated in the Chair of St. Peter. 
His Eminence, Cardinal McCloskey, of New York, was present 
in Rome at the time, and immediately upon General Grant's ar- 
rival called upon him, and offered to secure for him any facilities he 
might desire for seeing the churches, the Vatican, and the objects 

of interest under the immediate care of the Church. The Car- 

(402) 



ITALY, FRANCE, HOLLAND. 



403 



dinal also arranged for an interview between General Grant and 
the Pope, and accordingly on the 13th of March, General and 
Mrs. Grant were formally presented to His Holiness Pope Leo 
XIII., who received them cordially, Cardinal McCloskey making 
the presentation. A pleasant interview followed, and the parties 
separated mutually pleased with each other. 

Immediately upon the arrival of General Grant at Rome he 




ST. PETER'S AND THE VATICAN— ROME. 



was waited upon by an aide-de-camp of King Humbert, who, 
in his sovereign's name, welcomed the General to Rome, and 
placed at his disposal every facility he might desire for seeing 
the countless monuments and museums of the Eternal City. 
The General promptly called upon the King, and an interesting 
and cordial interview took place. On the 15th of April King 



4O4 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Humbert entertained General Grant at a magnificent state dinner, 
at which all the Italian ministers were present. This was one 
of the most distinguished honors ever conferred by an Italian 
sovereign upon a citizen of a foreign country. 

From Rome the travellers went to Florence, the favorite of 
Italian cities with Americans, which was reached on the 20th of 
April, 1878. The stay of the General and his party in this 
beautiful city was very brief, but very pleasant. The authorities 
of the city showed him every attention in their power, and ex- 
erted themselves to make his visit a delightful one. He was also 
the recipient of many attentions at the hands of the American 
residents. 

There is no city in Italy more interesting and attractive from 
an artistic or historical point of view than Florence. It lies in a 
beautiful valley, on both sides of the Arno, which rushes swiftly 
through it, and is surrounded on all sides by the beauties of na- 
ture and art. Florence has always been one of the leading cities 
of Italy, and its history is deeply interesting. It is the birthplace 
of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Galileo, Michael Angelo, Leonardo 
da Vinci, Benvenuto Cellini, and Andrea del Sarto. Its climate 
is delightful, and its society noted for its refinement and 
culture. 

The General's first visit was paid to the Uffizi Gallery, that 
wonderful collection of works of art of which Florence is justly 
proud. The General was surprised at the extent and magni- 
ficence of the collection, and greatly enjoyed the stroll through 
the galleries. Visits were paid to the Pitti Palace, which is also 
rich in paintings and statuary, the National Museum, the Academy 
of Fine Arts, and other prominent places. It was General Grant's 
good fortune also to be in Florence at Easter, when he attended 
the impressive services held at the great Duomo, or Cathedral 
del Santa Maria del Fiore. This beautiful structure is sur- 
mounted by a dome of grand proportions, which is said to 
have furnished Michael Angelo with a model for that of St. 
Peter's at Rome. The Baptistery of St. John was also visited, and 
its beautiful bronze gates admired. These are the gates which 
Michael Angelo declared were worthy to be the gates of Para- 



406 AROUND THE WORLD. 

dise. Pleasant drives were taken in the vicinity of Florence,, 
and views of the city obtained from the neighboring- hills. 

From Florence General Grant and his party went to Venice 
by railway, and reached that city on the 23d of April. He was 
met at the station by the American Consul-General, Mr. John 
Harris, and a large party of Americans. The city authorities 
were also present to welcome him to Venice and offer him the 
hospitalities of the city. Several speeches of a congratulatory 
character were made, to which the General returned suitable 
replies, and then the travellers were conducted to their hotel. 
Three days were passed in Venice. They were very pleasant, 
and, as there was much to see, were very busy ones. 

Venice is in one respect the most remarkable city in the worlds 
It is built upon one hundred and fourteen islands, lying in a bay 
near the Gulf of Venice, and but a short distance from the Adri- 
atic Sea. "Its peculiar formation renders it singularly attractive. 
The islands upon which the city is built lie in the midst of exten- 
sive lagoons, which surround it on all sides." We condense the 
following glimpses of Venice from Mr. C. C. Fulton's admirable 
letters to the Baltimore American: 

"The city is built upon one hundred and fourteen little islands, 
the streams running between them, with the exception of the 
Grand Canal, being seldom more than twenty feet in width. The 
tide from the sea rises and falls and flows through these canals, 
which are to the number of three hundred and forty-one, keeping 
the water always pure and healthy. Indeed, many of the lateral 
canals are scarcely more than twelve feet in width. Out of these 
canals the houses all rise abruptly, and their principal front and 
entrance always faces the canal, visitors stepping from the boat 
on to the door-sill. The houses of Venice have no yards, side- 
alleys, or any vacant ground connected with them. One end is 
on a canal, and the other on a narrow lane, or perhaps backed 
up solid against a neighbor's house. The city is 'finished,' be- 
cause there is scarcely room left large enough to erect a lime- 
shed, except on the distant outlying islands. It is compact and 
solid, with the exception of some small squares or court-yards 
left near the churches. 



ITALY, FRANCE, HOLLAND. 407 

"Those who suppose that Venice cannot be thoroughly explored 
by the pedestrian without resort to the gondolas and the canals 
are equally mistaken. It is provided with bridges, most of them 
very elegant little structures, of white marble or iron, to the 
enormous number of three hundred and seventy-eight. They are 
all arched bridges, springing up to the centre, so as to afford free 
passage under them for the gondolas. There is no street, or 
rather lane or alley, in Venice, which leads to a canal, that is not 
provided with a bridge, so that those who know how to find their 
way can make as much speed from point to point as if using a 
gondola. Both the streets and canals, with the exception of the 
Grand Canal, are so crooked that one hundred yards ahead can 
seldom be seen on either; indeed, fifty yards would be nearer the 
mark. They both turn and twist with equal facility, and it would 
require a long time for any one to become thoroughly familiar 
with them. The canals all intersect each other, and thus it be- 
comes necessary to lay out the streets so as to meet the turnings 
of the canals. 

"The great central attraction of Venice is St. Mark's Square, 
and, although it presents an irregular quadrangle, it is undoubt- 
edly the finest square in all the world for the elegant magnifi- 
cence of surrounding structures. Across the east end of the 
square the Cathedral of St. Mark stands out as the most promi- 
nent feature, with its three domes and numerous steeples. In 
the left corner of the square, facing the cathedral, stands the 
Campanile, or bell-tower, which rises to the height of three hun- 
dred feet, its base being thirty-eight feet wide, and its width at the 
top thirty-five feet. The base of this tower is very beautiful, and 
is finely ornamented with sculpture and statuary. On the south 
side of the square are the old City Hall and Clock Tower, on the 
west the Doge's palace, and on the north side the new City Hall 
and one side of the Old Library. These buildings all, with the 
exception of the cathedral, stand together in close order and con- 
stitute the outlines of the square. The lower story of all forms 
a continuous colonnade, similar to that around the interior of the 
Palais Royal, at Paris, and like it also this story is occupied by 
stores and cafes on the three sides of the square. The entire 



.408 AROUND THE WORLD. 

square is paved with smooth blocks of granite, interspersed with 
iron pillars bearing clusters of gas jets, whilst another line of il- 
lumination extends along the entire fronts. The buildings front- 
ing the square are all of white marble, four stories high, and 
adorned with an abundance of statuary. The entire length of 
the square is five hundred and forty feet, and the width two hun- 
dred and forty-six feet, whilst the piazzetta leading past the palace 
of the Doges and the Old Library, which is really a portion of 
the square, is three hundred and eleven feet long by one hundred 
and forty-six in width, extending down to the water's edge, at the 
mouth of the Grand Canal. 

" On the Piazzetta, immediately facing the Grand Canal, are 
two majestic pillars of Oriental granite, not less in diameter than 
those before the Pantheon at Rome. These grand columns were 
brought to Venice in the year 1 127 by Doge Michael, who found 
them lying on an island in the Grecian Archipelago, on his return 
from the Holy Land. There were originally three of them, but 
one was lost overboard in debarkation. They lay for forty-four 
years on their sides, after their arrival, no one being found to 
undertake the putting of them up. In the year 1371 a man 
named Niccolo undertook to put them on the bases prepared for 
them, and exacted for his services the privilege of keeping a 
gaming table between them. In the year 1529 the privilege was 
rescinded by the Republic." 

The great attraction of Venice is the Cathedral of St. Mark. 
"It stands at the head of the square of the same name, with a 
front of one hundred and fifty-six feet. It is divided into five 
arches, and has five entrances. Its length is two hundred and 
forty-one feet, and the width at the cross one hundred and eighty- 
eight feet. The style of architecture is Byzantine. It was built 
some six hundred years ago, and the columns that have been 
used, from their varied styles and colors, are believed to have 
been taken from the most ancient edifices of Greece, and from 
the destroyed cities of Erachea and Altino. Standing in the 
centre of the square and looking at it, three domes and about a 
dozen small steeples are visible rising above its roof. The five 
lofty arches over the doorways each form a half dome, the ceil- 




THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS, VENICE, SHOWING THE DUCAL PALACE AND THE PRISON. 

(409) 



41 AROUND THE WORLD. 

ings of which are ornamented with mosaic representations of the 
embarkation of the body of St. Mark in Alexandria, and its de- 
barkation at Venice, with other incidents connected with the life 
of this patron saint of Venice. The central arch has a plain blue 
field, with stars, executed in mosaic. Over the doorway in the 
centre are the four famous bronze horses, which once ornamented 
Nero's triumphal arch. They were stolen by Constantine the 
Great, and carried to Constantinople, just one thousand years 
ago. When the Crusaders took Constantinople, in 1205, the 
horses were brought to Venice by one Marino Zeno, and ^laced 
in their present position. 

"The interior of the cathedral is wonderful for the richness and 
profusion of its Oriental marble, and for its carvings, both of the 
ancient and Middle Ages, and its bronzes and mosaics, from the 
tenth to the eighteenth century. Even the form and style of this 
ancient church are taken from the Church of the Mother of God, 
in Constantinople. The interiors of the large and small domes 
are also brilliant with mosaics, as also the hundreds of niches 
in the walls, each representing some event in Scripture history. 
The interior is one mass of mosaics, executed from the cartoons 
of the greatest painters of past ages. Everything in the interior 
is on a grand scale. The high altar is especially imposing. The 
tabernacle and the semicircular arches are supported by four 
columns of Greek marble, covered all over with bas-reliefs, a 
work of the fourteenth century. There are six small marble 
figures upon the frame of the tribune. Behind the altar, sus- 
tained by marble bases, is the famous golden altar-piece. It is 
a wonderful and very rich piece of workmanship, studded with 
pearls and precious stones, measuring eleven feet in breadth and 
five and a half feet in height. It has the form of a rectangle, 
divided into two larger horizontal divisions and subdivided into 
eighty-three smaller ones. The value of the metal and precious 
stones, not counting the workmanship, is calculated at three mil- 
lions of pounds sterling. Indeed there is no better evidence of 
the great wealth of Venice in past ages than this Cathedral of 
St. Mark." 

The city being built in the water, communication between its 



ITALY, FRANCE, HOLLAND. 4 1 I 

various parts is maintained by means of boats called gondolas. 
"The gondolas and gondoliers, of which there are about four 
thousand licensed, the same as we license public hacks, do not 
come up to the expectation of the stranger who has read of them 
in romances and poems. The gondolas are about thirty feet in 
length, with high iron prows, and are, by a law of the city dating 
three hundred years back, all painted black, having in their centre 
a black cabin, something like the body of a hearse, either painted 
or covered with black cloth, into which four persons can with 
difficulty be crowded. Instead of being gay and bright and 
beautiful, as we had supposed, they are a gloomy and deathly- 
looking craft, but with two gondoliers can be made to move 
through the water with great rapidity. The gondolier stands up 
when propelling his boat, and if there is but one, he uses but one 
oar, but guides his vessel through the intricacies of the canals 
without grazing the sharp angles which he is required to turn, or 
even checking his speed. A gondola is sometimes met belong- 
ing to private parties, who keep them the same as we do car- 
riages. These have gayer fittings, and the gondolier will be 
arrayed probably in white, with pink sashes ; but the common 
gondolier of Venice is about as plain in apparel and general get- 
up as one of our ferrymen. They are very active men, and are 
about as sharp in getting more than the law allows out of their 
passengers, especially if they happen to be strangers, as some of 
our hackmen are. The Grand Canal is always lined with them, 
moving about with passengers, and they can make short cuts by 
passing through the small canals, on which a goodly number are 
always running." 

General Grant left Venice on the 26th of April, and reached 
Milan on the 27th. He remained in that famous city a week. 
He was received at the station, upon his arrival, by the Prefect, 
Syndic, and other city officials, and welcomed to the metropolis 
of Northern Italy. During his stay in Milan General Grant had 
a constant stream of American visitors. He visited the various 
points of interest, and attended the famous Opera of La Scala. 

" Milan," says Mr. Fulton, whom we quote again, " is undoubt- 
edly one of the very finest cities in Italy, and, indeed, there are 



412 AROUND THE WORLD. 

few cities in any country that can excel it in appearance and at- 
tractiveness. Like most ancient cities it is very irregularly laid 
out, but it is one of the most interesting in Europe, full of activity 
and wealth. It has some noble thoroughfares, and is rapidly im- 
proving, the buildings going up in its suburbs being of a very 
superior class to the old sections of the city. It is a walled city, 
but the interior side of the wall is laid out with gardens and 
planted with trees, an arrangement which surrounds the whole 
city with a park. 

" All the cities of Europe are considerably ahead of the United 
States in the paving of streets, but we think that Milan is the 
best-paved city in Europe. There are no curbstones and no 
gutters, even in streets as broad as say Baltimore Street, all 
being smooth, from house to house, with a slight depression in 
the centre, where there are openings, narrow slits, in the stone car- 
riage-way, to allow the rain to pass off into the sewers underneath. 
The drainage from the houses passes directly into the sewers by 
pipes, and there is nothing to provide for in the drainage of the 
streets, except rain. The foot-paths next to the houses are about 
six feet in width, of smooth granite. There are also two lines of 
granite for the wheels of vehicles to run upon in the centre of 
the street, by which means an omnibus with two horses can draw 
as many passengers as a street-railway car, rendering the latter 
unnecessary in a city so perfectly level as Milan. The balance 
of the street is paved with small round stones, which are laid in 
cement, and form an excellent pavement, smooth and solid. The 
smooth granite blocks, which form the whole bed of the streets 
in Naples, Florence, and Rome, are very hard upon the horses, 
almost one-half of which wear leather caps upon their knees to 
protect the knee-joint from damage in case of falling, as they are 
apt to do if moving with any speed. The pavements of Milan 
afford excellent footing for the horse, even better than our rouo-h 
pavements, whilst the wheels glide over them with but little re- 
sistance. It is wonderful where so many stones of the right size 
can be obtained, but they appear as if having been through a 
sieve, and all rejected that exceed the standard size. If the pave- 
ments are crowded, as is constantly the case, people readily step 
upon them to pass without the slightest inconvenience. 




(413) 



414 AROUND THE WORLD. 

" Every stranger who comes to Milan of course desires to see the 
world-renowned cathedral, the dome and spires of which are the 
first things visible in approaching from any direction. It certainly 
is a most wonderful structure, and if its architects desired to leave a 
building that will never be excelled in its ornamentation, they have, 
very likely, been successful. It is a perfect forest of marble pin- 
nacles, with life-size statues peeping out from every niche in its 
walls. Wherever you cast your eye on any part of the exterior 
walls, your gaze is returned by a throng of those ' stone men 
and women' who, Father Barrett protests, are the main produc- 
tion of Italy. The number of these statues is variously estimated 
by different authors, but they are certainly so numerous that it 
would be folly to attempt to count them. Dr. S. I. Prime, author 
of 'Travels in Europe and the East,' affirms that there are 
already 7,000, and places for 3,000 more. Murray says 4,400, 
which is probably more nearly correct. The central tower and 
spire is especially beautiful, and, surrounded as it is by a throng 
of smaller spires, each surmounted by a statue, presents a com- 
bination of rare elegance almost impossible to describe. Then 
the wilderness of tracery in beautiful white marble which sur- 
rounds the roof, delicately marked against the sky, gives to the 
whole structure, large and massive as it is, the appearance of 
being as light and fragile as if the first gust of heavy wind might 
be expected to topple it over. The entire length of the cathe- 
dral, which is in the form of a Latin cross, is 490 feet, breadth 
180 feet, height to top of the statue 354 feet, length of the tran- 
sept 284 feet, and height of the nave 152 feet. As a monument 
of ornamental architecture it will probably stand forever unri- 
valled, as the taste of the present age does not run in the same 
direction. The interior of the cathedral is still more grand and 
imposing than the exterior. Its double aisles and clustered pil- 
lars, its lofty arches, the lustre of its walls, its numberless niches 
filled with noble figures, and its monuments, combine to give a 
grandeur and solidity to its appearance much more effective than 
the exterior view. It was commenced over 500 years ago, and 
was nearly a century in the course of construction. The scene 
in the interior, with the morning sun shining through its magnifi- 




CATHEDRAL Or MILAN. 



(415] 



41 6 AROUND THE WORLD. 

cent stained windows, is most strikingly beautiful. From the 
roof, looking down on the fine marble tracery and the forest of 
spires, a better idea is obtained of the vastness of the structure 
than from any other point. The Alps, with Mont Blanc in the 
distance, are distinctly visible from this elevated position." 

During his stay in Milan General Grant made an excursion to 
Genoa, noted not only as one of the most famous of the old 
Italian Republics, but as the birthplace of Christopher Columbus. 

General Grant was anxious to reach Paris by a given date, and 
after leaving Milan proceeded direct to France. 

General Grant arrived in Paris on the 7th of May. At all 
points on the route from Italy he was paid marked attentions by 
the local and railway authorities. The best carriages of the lines 
used were placed at his disposal, and the attaches of the several 
companies seemed eager to render some service to the great 
American General. 

Paris was reached on the 7th of May, 1878, and General Grant 
proceeded direct to his hotel. The International Exposition had 
been opened on the 3d of May, and was the absorbing topic in 
Paris. It was decided that General Grant should make a formal 
visit to the Exposition, and inspect the American Department, 
and on the nth of June General R. C. McCormick, Commis- 
sioner-General for the United States, called on General Grant 
and asked him to fix a time for his visit. The 1 7th of May — 
Saturday — being the most convenient day, was appointed. On 
that occasion General and Mrs. Grant, together with a large 
party of friends, visited the Exposition, and were received by the 
officials of the American Department and escorted through it. 
The General was much pleased with the display made by his 
countrymen. He was shown through the other courts by the 
officials in charge of the exhibits of the various countries repre- 
sented, and was everywhere received with marked respect and 
attention, and offered every facility for examining the various 
articles displayed. 

General Grant remained in Paris a little more than a month, 
enjoying a constant round of hospitality at the hands of his coun- 
trymen and of distinguished Frenchmen. It was during this visit 



41 8 AROUND THE WORLD. 

that President MacMahon declared that " France was honored 
by the presence of so illustrious a soldier." 

The General began to tire of Paris, however, and near the 
middle of June set out for Holland, intending to make a tour of 
Northern Europe before returning to France. 

The travellers went direct to the Hague, the capital of Holland, 
called by the Dutch, s'Gravenhagen, where an imposing recep- 
tion met General Grant at the railway station. The General was 
presented to the King of the Netherlands, and was cordially 
received by him, and during his stay at the Hague a fine review 
of Dutch troops was held in his honor. He was entertained at 
luncheon by his Royal Highness, Prince Frederick, the King's 
uncle, at the royal villa of Hins in t'Bosch, or "The House in the 
Woods," about a mile and a half from the Hague, and the enter- 
tainment proved one of the most delightful enjoyed by the Gen- 
eral durinof his visit abroad. 

The Hague, apart from its beauty, is a very interesting place. 
It has a population of about 100,000 inhabitants, and is one of 
the best built cities of Europe. Its streets are wide, well shaded,, 
and paved with brick. The National Museum contains a fine 
collection of paintings by Dutch and foreign artists. The 
Museum also contains rare and curious collections made in the 
development of the vast eastern commerce of Holland. The 
King's Palace stands near the Museum, but is not very imposing 
either within or without. 

The General's time passed pleasantly at the Hague, for in 
spite of their proverbial phlegm, the Dutch were enthusiastic 
over their distinguished visitor, and showered upon him marks 
of attention and respect. 

From the Hague General Grant went to Rotterdam, where he 
met with a cordial reception from the authorities and from many 
of his own countrymen residing there. Rotterdam is the second 
city of Holland in population and commercial importance, and 
lies on the right bank of the Maas. It has 132,054 inhabitants, 
and is provided with a magnificent harbor, a series of superb 
locks, and is intersected by a great many canals. The largest 
ships come up to the centre of the city, the canals being crossed 



ITALY, FRANCE, HOLLAND. 419 

by drawbridges which open to let the vessels pass. The city is 
thoroughly Dutch in appearance, but is picturesque, clean, and 
healthy. Rotterdam possesses many fine public buildings and 
an interestinof Museum and Zoological Garden. 

During his stay in Rotterdam General Grant was entertained 
by the Burgomaster of the city at a grand dinner, which was 
numerously attended. Speeches were made and toasts were 
drunk expressing the heartiest and most unaffected friendship for 
General Grant and for the United States. 

It was but a ride of a few hours from Rotterdam to Amsterdam, 
to which the travellers proceeded next. This city, the com- 
mercial metropolis of Holland, derives its name from the river 
Amstel, which in passing through it divides it into two nearly 
equal sections. It contains 290,000 inhabitants, and is exten- 
sively engaged in commerce with all parts of the world. The 
city is almost in the form of a crescent and is surrounded by 
ramparts, which have been converted into boulevards and planted 
with trees. "On both sides of the Amstel, in the centre of the 
city, the streets and canals are very irregular; but running 
parallel with the wails are four canals, and streets not easily 
matched in any other city of Europe, either for their length, 
width, or the elegance of their buildings. They are called 
Princen Gracht, Keyser Gracht, Heeren Gracht, and Singel 
Gracht. These are so intersected with other canals that they 
divide the city into ninety islands, which are crossed by nearly 300 
bridges, partly wood and partly stone. The principal streets are 
about two miles long. The houses are nearly all of brick, large 
and well built. The whole city, however — wharves, streets, 
houses, and canals — is built on piles driven into the ground. 
The mouths of the canals which open into the River Y (pro- 
nounced eye), and also those of the river Amstel, are provided 
with strong flood-gates, and a dike is erected upon the side of 
the town nearest the sea to guard against the chance of inunda- 
tions. The harbor is secure and spacious, and the largest ships 
come close up to the quays and warehouses." 

The principal building of the city is the Royal Palace, a noble 
edifice. It is 282 feet in length, 235 in depth, and 116 in height, 



420 



AROUND THE WORLD. 



with a cupola forty-one feet higher, and is built on a foundation 
of 13,000 piles. The Museum contains a rich collection of works 
of art by native artists, some of which were exhibited at the Cen- 
tennial Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876. 

Amsterdam is extensively engaged in the manufacture of linen, 
cotton, silk, leather, liquors, beer, and tobacco, and in ship build- 
ing. A new canal, known as the North Sea Canal, now connects 
Amsterdam with the Helder, 50^ miles distant, thus obviating 
the necessity of navigating the shallow Zuyder Zee. It is twenty 




SCENE IN HOLLAND. 



feet deep, wide enough for two ships to pass each other, and is 
constructed in the most massive and substantial manner. It 
cost $5,000,000. 

During his stay in Amsterdam General Grant was entertained 
at a magnificent banquet given in his honor by fifty of the lead- 
ing merchants of the city. It was attended by all the dignitaries 
of the city, and by a brilliant company. It was one of the most 
splendid entertainments attended by General Grant while in 
Europe. A visit was made to the North Sea Canal in company 
with the directors of the company, and the General carefully 



ITALY, FRANCE, HOLLAND. 421 

inspected that magnificent work. The excursion wound up with 
a superb collation offered to the General by one of the directors. 
Another excursion was to Haarlem, where the grand organ of the 
Church of St. Bavon, the largest instrument in the world, was 
played in honor of General Grant. Another excursion still was 
to Broek, a town six miles east of Amsterdam, and was of an 
amusing character. This place contains 9,000 inhabitants, and is 
noted for the wealth of its residents, who " are principally landed 
proprietors or retired merchants, but more celebrated for the 
extreme cleanliness of its houses and streets, the attention to 
which has been carried to an absurd and ridiculous excess. The 
houses are mostly of wood, painted white and green ; the fronts 
of many of them are painted in various colors ; the roofs are of 
polished tile, and the narrow streets are paved with bricks, or 
little stones set in patterns. Carriages cannot enter the town ; 
you cannot even ride your horse through it, but must lead him 
or leave him outside. The natives are very much like the Turks : 
they take off their shoes before entering their houses, and walk 
in slippers or in their stockings. Even the Emperor Alexander, 
when he visited Broek, was obliged to comply with this custom." 
Thus passed away two delightful weeks in Holland. General 
Grant would have been glad to prolong his stay, but he was 
anxious to be in Berlin during the European Congress, and was 
compelled to bid adieu to his pleasant Dutch friends and hasten 
on. His route lay through Hanover, where a brief halt was made 
to visit the city, the royal palace and other objects of interest, 
and then the journey was resumed to Berlin. 



CHAPTER X. 

PRUSSIA, DENMARK, NORWAY AND SWEDEN. 

Arrival of General Grant at Berlin — The Prussian Capital — Unter den Linden — Statue of Fred- 
erick the Great — The Museum — The University — Excursion to Potsdam — The European 
Congress — Visit to Prince Bismarck — A Memorable Interview — A Review — Lunch with the 
Crown Prince — General Grant Dines with Prince Bismarck — A Quiet Chat — Dinner at the 
American Legation — Departure of General Grant from Berlin — Arrival at Hamburg — Cor- 
dial Reception — Attentions by the Municipal Authorities — The Fourth of July — Arrival of 
General Grant at Copenhagen — Departure for Norway — Reception at Gottenburg — Arrival 
at Christiana — General Grant's Interview with the King of Norway and Sweden — Visit to 
Stockholm — The Venice of the North. 



ENERAL GRANT reached Berlin on the 26th of June, 
1878. He was met at Stendahl, sixty miles from Berlin, 
by Mr. Bayard Taylor, the American Minister to Ger- 
many, who accompanied him to the German capital. Upon 
reaching the city he at once proceeded to his hotel in Unter den 
Linden. In the evening- he enjoyed a pleasant and quiet stroll 
along that beautiful street. 

Berlin is the fourth city in Europe in size and population, and 
contains 968,634 inhabitants. It is situated on both sides of the 
river Spree, which is crossed by fifty bridges. The circuit of 
the city is about twelve miles. Berlin is the capital of the King- 
dom of Prussia and of the Empire of Germany, and is ordinarily 
the residence of the sovereign. The city contains a garrison of 
20,000 men, which gives to it quite a martial appearance. Berlin 
is handsomely built, and contains many noble and imposing 
edifices. 

The principal street is Unter den Linden, or " Under the Lin- 
dens," so called from the beautiful trees with which it is planted. 
At one end of it is the Brandenburg Gate, the principal entrance 
to Berlin, a magnificent triumphal arch, copied from the Propy- 

laeum at Athens, and erected in 1 789. The street is lined with 

(422) 




f iJffJf SSI 



-111 



P ill 1 ptif 



t ,i a 



i 




THE TOWN HALL AT BERLIN. 



(42 3 ) 



424 AROUND THE WORLD. 

magnificent buildings, among which are the Palace of the Emperor, 
the Palace of the Crown Prince, the Palace of Prince Bismarck, 
the Academy of Fine Arts, the Opera House, the Arsenal, the 
Schools of the Artillery and Engineers, the residences of the 
principal foreign ministers, and the leading hotels. 

In the centre of Unter den Linden, opposite the Emperor's 
Palace, is a magnificent colossal equestrian statue of Frederick 
the Great by Rauch. It is one of the most perfect works in 
Europe. The pedestal is of granite, twenty-five feet high, and 
its sides are covered with life-size groups in bronze, embracing 
all the leading generals and statesmen of the Seven Years' War, 
numbering thirty-one in all. At each corner of the pedestal, 
above the groups, are figures of Justice, Prudence, Fortitude, and 
Temperance ; between which are bas-reliefs representing different 
periods in the life of Frederick. The equestrian statue sur- 
mounts the whole, and is seventeen feet high, and perfect in all 
its proportions. 

The Arsenal was one of the most interesting places visited by 
General Grant. It contains a fine collection of arms, and trophies 
of the victories won by the Prussian armies since Malplaquet. 

The Royal Palace is a handsome building, and its interior con- 
tains some very handsome apartments, among which are the 
Throne Room, and the Chamber of the Black Eagle. 

The Museum of Berlin is the finest in the world. It consists 
of two beautiful edifices, known as the Old and New Museums, 
connected by a bridge. The picture galleries are extensive and 
magnificent, and the Museum of Antiquities and Historical Relics 
is unsurpassed by any in Europe. 

Berlin is noted for its University, which is equal to any in Ger- 
many. It occupies a large and magnificent building, a portion of 
which is devoted to a splendid Museum of Natural History. 

A pleasant excursion was made by General Grant and his party 
to Potsdam, the home of Frederick the Great, distant only thirty 
minutes by rail from Berlin. The town has a population of 
43,784 inhabitants, and a garrison of 7,000 men. It is one of the 
principal stations of the Prussian army, and has a very martial 
appearance. The beautiful palace of Sans Souci, and the various 



PRUSSIA, DENMARK, NORWAY AND SWEDEN. 425 

places connected with the life of Frederick the Great were visited, 
and then the party returned to Berlin. 

General Grant was much interested in Berlin, and industriously 
visited its sights and places of interest. He was the recipient of 
many social attentions, and also met many German officers who 
had served under him during the American civil war, and who 
were eager to pay their respects to their old chief. 

The European Congress for the final settlement of the ques- 
tions arising out of the war between Russia and Turkey was in 
session at Berlin at the time of the General's visit. Most of the 
foreign representatives were known to General Grant, he having 
met them in their respective countries. Visits of ceremony were 
paid to each. As Prince GortschakofT, the Russian Plenipoten- 
tiary, was too much crippled with the gout to make calls, General 
Grant called upon him, and had a long and pleasant interview. 
The Prince urged him to visit Russia, and assured him of a hearty 
and cordial reception by the Emperor and people. 

Among the first to leave a card for General Grant was Prince 
Bismarck, the German Prime Minister. The General was un- 
luckily absent at the time, and the visit of the Prince was re- 
peated. General Grant at once sent a message to Prince Bis- 
marck that he would call upon him at any hour that would suit 
his convenience. Four o'clock was named as the hour, and at a 
few minutes before that time the General left his hotel on foot, 
and strolled leisurely towards the Palace of the Chancellor, which 
was but a short distance from his lodgings. 

Mr. Young, in his letter to The New York Herald, thus re- 
lates the interview that ensued : 

"The General saunters into the court-yard. The sentinels eye 
him a moment curiously, and then present arms. His visit had 
been expected it was true, but it was supposed that an Ex-Presi- 
dent of the United States would have come in a carriage and six 
and not quietly on foot. Throwing away a half-smoked cigar as 
he raises his hat in honor of the salute he advances to the door ; 
but before he has time to ring, two liveried servants throw wide 
open the door, and the Ex-President passes into an open marble 
hall. Of all princes now living, this is perhaps the most renowned 



426 AROUND THE WORLD. 

= — this of Bismarck-Schonhausen — who comes with a swinging, 
bending gait through the opening doors and with both hands 
extended welcomes General Grant. You note that time has 
borne heavily on the Prince these past few years. The iron-gray 
hair and mustache are almost white ; there is weariness in the 
o-ait, a tired look in the face. But all the lines are there that are 
associated with Bismarck, for if ever manhood, courage, intellect 
are written on a man's face by his Creator, they are written on 
this face of the German Chancellor. There the lofty station which 
seems to belong to the Bismarck stamp of men, the bold outlines 
of the brain, under which empires have found their fate, the frank, 
intrepid, penetrating eye, and in that firmly-knit mouth the cour- 
age of the Saxon race. The Prince wears an officer's uniform, 
and on taking the General's hand, he says, ' Glad to welcome 
General Grant to Germany.' 

" The General replied that there was no incident in his Ger- 
man tour that interested him more than this opportunity of meet- 
ing the Prince. Bismarck expressed surprise at seeing the 
General so young a man, but on a comparison of ages it was 
found that Bismarck was only seven years the General's senior. 

"'That,' said the Prince, 'shows the value of a military life, 
for here you have the frame of a young man, while I feel like 
an old one.' 

" The General, smiling, announced that he was at that period 
of life when he could have no higher compliment paid him than 
being called a young man. By this time the Prince had escorted 
the General to a chair. 

" It was his library or study, and an open window looked out 
upon a beautiful park upon which the warm June sun was shining. 
This is the private park of the Radziwill Palace, which is now 
Bismarck's Berlin home. The library is a large, spacious room, 
the walls a gray marble, and the furniture plain. In one corner 
is a lartre and hip-h writine-desk where the Chancellor works, 
and on the varnished floors a few rugs are thrown. The Prince 
speaks English with precision and slowly, as though lacking in 
practice, now and then taking refuge in a French word, but show- 
ing a thorough command of the language. 



PRUSSIA, DENMARK, NORWAY AND SWEDEN. 



427 



" One of the Prince's first questions was about General 
Sheridan. 

" ' The General and I,' said the Prince, 'were fellow-campaigners 
in France, and we became great friends.' 

" General Grant said that he had had letters from Sheridan 
recently, and he was quite well. 




INTERVIEW BETWEEN GENERAL GRANT AND PRINCE BISMARCK. 

" ' Sheridan,' said the Prince, ' seemed to be a man of great 
ability.' 

" 'Yes,' answered the General ; ' I regard Sheridan as not only 
one of the great soldiers of our war, but as one of the oreat 
soldiers of the world — as a man who is fit for the highest com- 
mands. No better General ever lived than Sheridan.' 



428 AROUND THE WORLD. 

" ' I observed,' said the Prince, *■ that he had a wonderfully quick 
eye. On one occasion, I remember, the Emperor and his staff 
took up a position to observe a battle. The Emperor himself 
was never near enough to the front, was always impatient to be 
as near the fighting as possible. " Well," said Sheridan to me, 
as we rode along, " we shall never stay here, the enemy will in a 
short time make this so untenable that we shall all be leaving in a 
hurry. Then while the men are advancing they will see us re- 
treating." Sure enough, in an hour or so the cannon-shot began 
to plunge this way and that way, and we saw we must leave. It 
was difficult to move the Emperor, however ; but we all had to 
go, and,' said the Prince, with a hearty laugh, ' we went rapidly. 
Sheridan had seen it from the beginning. I wish I had so quick 
an eye.' 

" The Prince then asked about Sheridan's command — his exact 
rank, his age, how long he held the command, and remarked that 
he was about the same age as the Crown Prince. 

" The General made a reference to the deliberations of the 
Congress, and hoped that there would be a peaceful result. 

'" That is my hope and belief,' said the Prince. 'That is all 
our interest in the matter. We have no business with the Con- 
gress whatever, and are attending to the business of others by 
calling a congress. But Germany wants peace, and Europe 
wants peace, and all our labors are to that end. In the settle- 
ment of the questions arising out of the San Stefano Treaty 
Germany has no interest of a selfish character. I suppose,' said 
the Prince, ' the whole situation may be summed up in this 
phrase, in making the treaty Russia ate more than she could 
digest, and the main business of the Congress is to relieve 
her. The war has been severe upon Russia, and of course 
she wants peace.' 

" The General asked how long the Congress would probably 
sit, and the Prince answered that he thought seven or eight more 
sittings would close the business. T wish it were over,' he said, 
' for Berlin is warm and I want to leave it.' 

" The Prince said that another reason why he was sorry the 
Congress was in session was that he could not take General 




(429) 



430 



AROUND THE WORLD. 




PRINCE BISMARCK. 



Grant around and show him Berlin. He said also that the 
Emperor himself was disappointed in not being able to see the 
General. 

" ' His majesty,' said the Prince, ' has been expecting you, and 
evinces the greatest interest in your achievements, in the dis- 
tinguished part you have played in the history of your country, 
and in your visit to Germany. He commands me to say that 
nothing but his doctor's orders that he shall see no one, prevents 
his seeing you.' 

"The General said, 'I am sorry that I cannot have that honor, 
but I am far more sorry for the cause, and hope the Emperor 
is recovering.' 



PRUSSIA, DENMARK, NORWAY AND SWEDEN. 43 1 

" 'All the indications are of the best,' answered the Prince, ' for 
the Emperor has a fine constitution and great courage and 
endurance, but you know he is a very old man.' 

" *■ That,' said the General, 'adds to the horror one feels for the 
crime.' 

" ' It is so strange, so strange and so sad,' answered the Prince, 
with marked feeling. ' Here is an old man — one of the kindest 
old gentlemen in the world — and yet they must try and shoot 
him ! There never was a more simple, more genuine, more — 
what shall I say — more humane character than the Emperor's. 
He is totally unlike men born in his station, or many of them at 
least. You know that men who come into the world in his rank, 
born princes, are apt to think themselves of another race and 
another world. They are apt to take small account of the wishes 
and feelings of others. All their education tends to deaden the 
human side. But this Emperor is so much of a man in all things! 
He never did any one a wrong in his life. He never wounded 
any one's feelings ; never imposed a hardship ! He is the most 
genial and winning of men — thinking always, anxious always for 
the comfort and welfare of his people — of those around him. 
You cannot conceive a finer type of the noble, courteous, charita- 
ble old gentleman, with every high quality of a Prince, as well as 
every virtue of a man. I should have supposed that the Emperor 
could have walked alone all over the Empire without harm, and 
yet they must try to shoot him. 

" ' In some respects,' said the Prince, continuing as if in half a 
reverie, and as if speaking of a subject upon which he had been 
thinking a great deal — ' In some respects the Emperor resembles 
his ancestor, Frederick William, the father of Frederick the 
Great. The difference between the two is that the old King 
would be harsh and severe at times to those around him, while 
the Emperor is never harsh to any one. But the old King had 
so much simplicity of character, lived an austere, home-loving, 
domestic life ; had all the republican qualities. So with this 
King ; he is so republican in all things that even the most 
extreme republican, if he did his character justice, would admire 
him.' 



432 AROUND THE WORLD. 

" Prince Bismarck said the Emperor was especially sorry that 
he could not in person show General Grant a review, and that 
the Crown Prince would give him one. ' But,' said the Prince, 
' the old gentleman is so much of a soldier and so fond of his 
army that nothing would give him more pleasure than to display 
it to so great a soldier as yourself.' 

"The General said that he had accepted the Crown Prince's 
invitation to a review for next morning, but with a smile con- 
tinued: 'The truth is I am more of a farmer than a soldier. I 
take little or no interest in military affairs, and, although I entered 
the army thirty-five years ago and have been in two wars, in 
Mexico as a young lieutenant, and later, I never went into the 
army without regret and never retired without pleasure.' 

"'You are so happily placed,' replied the Prince, 'in America 
that you need fear no wars. What always seemed so sad to me 
about your last great war was that you were fighting your own 
people. That is always so terrible in wars, so very hard.' 

" ' But it had to be done,' said the General. 

"'Yes,' said the Prince, 'you had to save the Union just as we 
had to save Germany.' 

" 'Not only save the Union, but destroy slavery,' answered the 
General. 

" ' I suppose, however, the Union was the real sentiment, the 
dominant sentiment,' said the Prince. 

" ' In the beginning, yes,' said the General ; ' but as soon as 
slavery fired upon the flag it was felt, we all felt, even those who 
did not object to slaves, that slavery must be destroyed. We 
lelt that it was a stain to the Union that men should be bought 
and sold like cattle.' 

" ' I had an old and good friend, an American, in Motley,' said 
the Prince, 'who used to write me now and then. Well, when 
your war broke out he wrote me. He said, "I will make a 
prophecy, and please take this letter and put it in a tree or a 
box for ten years, then open it and see if I am not a prophet. 
I prophesy that when this war ends the Union will be estab- 
lished and we shall not lose a village or a hamlet." This was 
Motley's prophecy,' said the Prince, with a smile, 'and it was 
true.' 



PRUSSIA, DENMARK, NORWAY" AND SWEDEN. 433 

"'Yes,' said the General, 'it was true.' 

"'I suppose if you had had a large army at the beginning of 
the war it would have ended in a much shorter time.' 

" ' We might have had no war at all,' said the General ; ' but 
we cannot tell. Our war had many strange features — there 
were many things which seemed odd enough at the time, but 
which now seem providential. If we had had a large regular 
army as it was then constituted, it might have gone with the 
South. In fact the Southern feeling in the army among high 
officers was so strong that when the war broke out the army 
dissolved. We had no army — then we had to organize one. A 
great commander like Sherman or Sheridan even then might 
have organized an army and put down the rebellion in six months 
or a year, or at the farthest, two years. But that would have 
saved slavery, perhaps, and slavery meant the germs of new 
rebellion. There had to be an end of slavery. Then we were 
fighting an enemy with whom we could not make a peace. We 
had to destroy him. No convention, no treaty was possible — 
only destruction.' 

"'It was a long war,' said the Prince, 'and a great work well 
done — and I suppose it means a long peace.' 

"T believe so,' said the General. 

" The Prince asked the General when he might have the pleas- 
ure of seeing Mrs. Grant. The General answered that she 
would receive him at any convenient hour. 

"'Then,' said the Prince, T will come to-morrow before the 
Congress meets.' 

" Both gentlemen arose, and the General renewed the expres- 
sion of his pleasure at having seen a man who was so well 
known and so highly esteemed in America. 

" ' General,' answered the Prince, ' the pleasure and the honor 
are mine. Germany and America have always been in such 
friendly relationship that nothing delights us more than to meet 
Americans, and especially an American who has done so much 
for his country, and whose name is so much honored in Germany 
as your own.' 

" The Prince and the General walked side by side to the door, 
28 



434 



AROUND THE WORLD. 




CROWN PRINCE FREDERICK WILLIAM OF GERMANY. 



and after shaking hands the General passed into the square. 
The guard presented arms, the General lit a fresh cigar, and 
slowly strolled home. 

"'I am glad I have seen Bismarck,' the General remarked. 
' He is a man whose manner and bearing fully justify the opin- 
ions one forms of him. What he says about the Emperor was 
beautifully said, and should be known to all the Germans and 
those who esteem Germany.' " 

The next morning, at half-past seven, General Grant attended 
a review given in his honor by the Crown Prince. A furious 
rain was driving across the field at the time, but, notwithstanding 
this, the manoeuvres were brilliantly executed, all the branches of 



PRUSSIA, DENMARK, NORWAY, AND SWEDEN. 435 

the service taking part in the display. After the review, the 
General inspected one of the military hospitals, and the quarters 
of a cavalry regiment. This was followed by an informal mess- 
room lunch, with the Crown Prince and his officers, durino- which 
the General expressed his gratification at the spectacle he had 
witnessed, and proposed the health of the Crown Prince. 

About noon on the same day, Prince Bismarck returned Gen- 
eral Grant's visit, and was presented to Mrs. Grant. The visit 
proved exceedingly pleasant to all parties, and showed that the 
*' man of blood and iron " had quite a lively interest in more 
human themes. 

Prince Bismarck entertained General Grant at a grand dinner at 
the Radziwill Palace. After dinner the Prince and General Grant 
adjourned to a cozy apartment in the palace for a pleasant chat. 

" The General was made comfortable with a cigar," says Mr. 
Young, in his letter to the New York Hei'aid, " but the Prince 
would not smoke a cigar. His doctors, who had been bothering 
him about many things, had even interfered with his tobacco, and 
all they would allow him was a pipe. Just such a pipe as the 
American mind associates with a Hollander or German — a pipe 
with a black, heavy bowl, a smoking machine about two feet long. 
The Prince nursed this beneath his knees, with his head bent for- 
ward in the full tide of an animated conversation. 

" The General and the Prince talked mainly upon the resources 
of the two countries ; and this is a theme upon which the Gen- 
eral never tires, and which, so far as America is concerned, he 
knows as well as any man in the world. The contrast between 
the two faces was a study ; for I take it no two faces of this gen- 
eration, at least, have been more widely drawn. In expression 
Bismarck has what might be called an intense face, a moving, 
restless eye, that might flame in an instant. His conversation is 
irregular, rapid, audacious, with gleams of humor, saying the odd- 
est and frankest things, and enjoying anything that amuses him 
so much that frequently he will not, cannot finish the sentence for 
laughing. Grant, whose enjoyment of humor is keen, never 
passes beyond a smile. In conversation he talks his theme 
directly out with care, avoiding no detail, correcting himself if he 



436 AROUND THE WORLD. 

slips in a detail, exceedingly accurate in statement, always talking- 
well, because he never talks about what he does not know. In 
comparing the two faces you note how much more youth there 
is in that of Grant than of Bismarck. Grant's face was tired 
enough a year ago when he came here fresh from that witches* 
dance of an Electoral Commission ; it had that weary look which, 
you see in Bismarck's, but it has gone, and of the two men you 
would certainly deem Grant the junior by twenty years. 

" Mr. Taylor, the American Minister, was evidently impressed 
with the historical value of the meeting of Grant and Bismarck.. 
He remembered a German custom that you can never cement a 
friendship without a glass of old-fashioned schnapps. There was. 
a bottle of a famous schnapps cordial among other bottles. I am 
afraid to say how old it was. The Minister said, ' General, no 
patriotic German will believe that there can ever be lasting 
friendship between Germany and the United States unless your- 
self and the Prince pledge eternal amity between all Germans 
and Americans over a glass of this schnapps.' The Prince 
laughed and thanked the Minister for the suggestion. The 
schnapps was poured out, the General and Prince touched 
glasses, the vows were exchanged in hearty fashion, and the 
Prince, rising, led Mrs. Grant through the hall. 

"As the party passed into the room where the Congress meets 
the Prince explained the position of the members and made some 
comments on the manner of doing- business. ' We do not get on 
rapidly for one reason,' he said, ' because nearly every member 
when he speaks does it in so low a voice that he has to say it alf 
over again.' At the head of the stairs the party separated, the 
Prince kissing the hand of Mrs. Grant in knightly German 
fashion." 

Among the notable incidents of General Grant's stay in Berlin 
was the dinner given to him at the American Legation by Bayard 
Taylor, the American Minister, and a pleasant reception at the 
same place. They were both quiet and informal, but very 
pleasant. 

From Berlin General Grant set out for Copenhagen, going by 
way of Hamburg, which place was reached on the 2d of July* 



PRUSSIA, DENMARK, NORWAY AND SWEDEN. 437 

The General dined quietly with Mr. J. M. Wilson, the American 
Consul, and in the evening' strolled through the city, enjoying its 
sights. On the morning o-f the 3d, a deputation of the Hamburg 
Senate called upon General Grant, and welcomed him to the city. 

Hamburg is a free imperial city of Germany, and was formerly 
a member of the old Hanseatic Confederation. It is situated 
upon the Elbe, about seventy-five miles from its mouth, and con- 
tains 321,850 inhabitants. The newer portion of the city is hand- 
somely built, and the whole town has a pleasant, bright, and busy 
appearance. The city is extensively engaged in commerce with 
all parts of the world, one of its enterprises being a weekly line 
of steamers to New York. Although a part of the German 
Empire, Hamburg is a Free City, and is governed by its own 
Burgomaster and Senate. 

" Hamburg," says Mr. Young, in his letter to The New York 
Herald, " gave itself up to the entertainment of the General with 
hearty good-will. On the morning after his arrival he was taken 
on board a small steamer, and made a tour of the docks and 
basins and a small run into the Elbe. The ships had their bunting 
up in the friendliest manner, some English and American ships 
showing all their flags. The trip was pleasant, notwithstanding 
the rain, which came and went. In the evening there was a din- 
ner given by the Senate at the Zoological Gardens, the Burgo- 
master, Dr. Kirchenssauer, in the chair. Among the Senators 
present were Senators Oswald, Stamer, Moring, and Hertze. 
The Burgomaster proposed the General's health in the kindest 
terms, speaking of the honor Hamburg received from his visit. 
The next day, being the Fourth of July, the General went down 
to the country residence of James R. MacDonald, the vice con- 
sul, and spent the afternoon walking about the woods and talking 
with American friends. Then came a dinner at a country hotel 
near by, where about thirty American ladies and gentlemen were 
present, the consul presiding. Mr. Wilson proposed the Gen- 
eral's health as ' the man who had saved the country.' This 
toast was drunk with cheers, to which the General responded 
appropriately." 

The next morning, July 5th, the General went to see the races 



438 AROUND THE WORLD. 

in company with several of his Hamburg friends, but as it rained, 
he soon returned to his hotel. 

General Grant left Hamburg on the 6th of July, and proceeded 
direct to Copenhagen, travelling through Schleswig-Holstein and 
Denmark. 

Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, is a handsome and 
stately city, lying upon the coast of Zealand, and containing 
about 180,000 inhabitants. A part of the city is built on the 
small island of Amager, and is called Christianshaven, the chan- 
nel between the two islands forming the port. The city is well 
fortified, being enclosed with a line of fortifications now used as 
a promenade; the harbor and approaches from the sea are 
defended by strong works. The city is noted for the large 
number of its palaces and public buildings, and also for its works 
of art. Chief among the art collections is Thorwaldsen's Mu- 
seum, which contains many original works by the great Danish 
sculptor, with casts of all his other works. General Grant was 
much interested in this collection, and spent considerable time in 
inspecting it. 

General Grant spent several very pleasant days in Copenha- 
gen, exploring every portion of it, and was so much pleased with 
the city that he would have been glad to stay longer, but time 
was pressing, and he had to depart. 

Leaving Copenhagen by steamer, the travellers sailed up the 
Cattegat to Gottenburg, in Sweden. This is a fine, flourishing 
city of 37,800 inhabitants, actively engaged in commerce. As the 
vessel bearing General Grant and his party neared the port it 
was seen that the shipping was gayly decorated with bunting, 
and fully 5,000 people were assembled at the landing to welcome 
the General. The reception was cordial and hearty in the ex- 
treme, and touched General Grant very deeply. He had in- 
tended to proceed direct to Christiana, but after this cordial 
greeting he decided to remain at Gottenburg during the day. 
The day was spent pleasantly, and the next morning the travellers 
resumed their journey to Christiana, by water. 

Christiana, the capital of Norway, was reached on the 13th 
of July. Fully 10,000 people had assembled at the land- 




(439) 



44-0 AROUND THE WORLD. 

ing-place to witness the arrival of General Grant, and as he 
came ashore he was received with enthusiastic cheers. He 
acknowledged the greetings of the Norsemen, and at once 
drove to his hotel. 

Christiana is a handsome city of about 70,000 inhabitants. Its 
principal public buildings are the Royal Palace and the Univer- 
sity. Besides these there are numerous other handsome struc- 
tures. Christiana is the principal port of Norway, the centre of 
its foreign trade, and possesses considerable shipping. 

The Castle of Aggershuus, which stands on an eminence over- 
looking the city, is one of the principal sights of Christiana, and 
was the first place visited by General Grant. The castle was 
built in the early part of the fourteenth century. It is strongly 
fortified, and commands the city. It has been besieged unsuc- 
cessfully a number of times, the last time in 1716 by Charles XII. 
of Sweden. The national records and the crown jewels of Nor- 
way are kept here, and the place is also used as a prison for state 
convicts, who are kept heavily ironed. 

King Oscar II. came from Stockholm to Christiana expressly 
to welcome General Grant to Norway, and the General promptly 
called upon the King. A pleasant interview ensued, the King 
cordially welcoming the American ex-President to Norseland, and 
offering to place every facility at his command at the General's 
disposal to enable him to see the country. At a later period of 
the visit the King entertained General and Mrs. Grant at dinner 
at the Royal Palace. 

A pleasant excursion of several days into the interior of Nor- 
way was made by General Grant and his party, which enabled 
them to see Norwegian country life under peculiar advantages. 

From Christiana General Grant made the journey to Stock- 
holm, the capital of Sweden, by rail, reaching that city on the 
24th of July, 1878. All along the route crowds assembled at the 
stations to see and cheer the distinguished American General ; 
triumphal arches were erected, and addresses of welcome were 
read at the prominent places. Upon the arrival of the train at 
Stockholm, the General was met by the city authorities and wel- 
comed to Stockholm. An immense crowd had assembled at 




(44i) 



442 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the station, and he was loudly cheered as he passed out on his; 
way to his hotel. 

The city of Stockholm is one of the most beautifully located in 
the world. It presents a handsome appearance, and is filled 
with rare and beautiful historical monuments and works of art. 
The city lies between Lake Maelar and the Baltic, and is built 
on eight islands and two semi-islands, and, being thus located in 
the midst of waters, it is often called the "Venice of the North." 
It possesses a large and safe harbor, and is extensively engaged 
in commerce. Many of the private houses are built on the 
mainland, on the north side. 

The most prominent building is the Royal Palace, an immense 
quadrangular structure of granite and brick. The interior is 
very beautiful, and the state apartments are among the finest in 
Europe. The King gave orders that all the royal palaces and 
all the public establishments should be freely opened to General 
Grant, and the General was thus enabled to see them under 
peculiar advantages. 

A very pleasant stay of several days was made at Stockholm, 
but the General's time did not permit a longer visit, and prepara- 
tions for departure were accordingly made. 



CHAPTER XI. 

RUSSIA AND AUSTRIA. 

The Baltic Voyage — Arrival at Cronstadt — General Grant Saluted by the Russian Forts — 
Welcome to Cronstadt — Arrival of General Grant at St. Petersburg — A Welcome from the 
Czar — General Grant's Interview with the Czar — Prince Gortschakoff — Visit to Peterhof and 
Cronstadt — Interview with the Czarewitch — Description of St. Petersburg — General Grant 
Visits Moscow — The Ancient City — The Kremlin — Departure for Warsaw — Arrival of 
General Grant at Vienna — Count Andrassy Calls upon General Grant — Interview with the 
Emperor — General and Mrs. Grant Dine with the Emperor and Empress — The City of 
Vienna — Visit to Munich — Entertainment at Zurich — Return of General Grant to Paris. 




MBARKING at Stockholm on board of one of the Baltic 
steamers, General Grant and his party crossed the Baltic 
Sea to St. Petersburg. The length of the voyage is 
about four hundred miles. The passage was made in about two 
days. The weather was somewhat rough, but none of the party 
were seasick. As Cronstadt was approached the weather cleared 
up, and the steamer put out all her flags, and in honor of Gen- 
eral Grant ran up the Stars and Stripes to the foremast. As the 
steamer drew near the outer forts, the heavy granite structures 
were wreathed in smoke, and a grand salute of welcome thun- 
dered over the waves. As other forts were passed salutes were 
fired, and at length the steamer came to anchor in the harbor. 
A deputation of the officials of the place came on board and 
welcomed General Grant to Russia. The General and his party 
were then transferred to a smaller steamer, which conveyed them 
to St. Petersburg. 

The trip to the city was a short one, and, upon arriving at his 
hotel, the General was met by Mr. E. M. Stoughton, the Ameri- 
can Minister to Russia, who warmly welcomed him to St. Peters- 
burg. He was followed by Prince Gortschakoff, the Emperor's 
Aide-de-Camp, and several other high officers of the Imperial 
Court, who brought messages of welcome from the Emperor. 

(443) 



444 



AROUND THE WORLD. 




ALEXANDER II., EMPEROR OF RUSSIA. 

This was the 30th of July, and it was arranged that the General 
should be presented to the Czar the next day, July 31st. 

Accordingly the presentation took place the next day. The 
Emperor manifested great cordiality. The General was pre- 
sented by Prince Gortschakoff. His Majesty talked of his health 
and the General's travels. He seemed greatly interested in our 
national wards, the Indians, and made several inquiries as to their 
mode of warfare. 

At the close of the interview the Emperor accompanied Gen- 
eral Grant to the door, saying: 

"Since the foundation of your government the relations be- 
tween Russia and America have been of the friendliest character, 
and as long as I live nothing shall be spared to continue that 
friendship." 



RUSSIA AND AUSTRIA. 445. 

The General answered that although the two governments 
were directly opposite in character, the great majority of the 
American people were in sympathy with Russia, and would, he 
hoped, so continue. 

General Grant also met the Grand Duke Alexis, who had 
visited the United States and been entertained at the White 
House during the General's Presidency. 

General Grant also called upon Prince Gortschakoff the elder,, 
the Russian Chancellor, whom he had met in Berlin. The visit 
lasted several hours, and was very pleasant. 

An imperial yacht was placed at General Grant's disposal, and 
the General and his party made a pleasant excursion to Peter- 
hoff — the Versailles of St. Petersburg — which commands a fine 
view of the Russian capital, Cronstadt, and the Gulf of Finland. 
After visiting Peterhoff, a visit was paid to the Russian man-of-war 
"Peter the Great," where the General was saluted with twenty- 
one guns. Cronstadt was also visited. The Russian fleet was 
lying at anchor there, and as the yacht steamed in among them, 
the vessels ran up the American flag to the fore, while the sailors 
manned the yards and gave three cheers. 

During his stay in St. Petersburg General Grant was received 
by the Czarewitch at a special audience. The French Ambassa- 
dor gave a dinner in his honor, and there was a special review of 
the fire brigade of the city. The Emperor was unfailing in his 
kind attentions, and caused everything that could be done for the 
comfort of General Grant and his party to be done with prompt- 
ness and cordiality. 

St. Petersburg, the capital of Russia, is one of the most re- 
markable cities in the world. At the opening of the eighteenth 
century the site upon which it stands was a morass. Peter the 
Great resolved to build a city there, and in 1703 the work was 
begun. He personally superintended it, and the new city rose 
rapidly out of the marshes, the Czar exerting all his despotic 
power to push forward the undertaking, compelling from 40,000 
to 50,000 peasants to labor constantly at the work. When Peter 
died, he left a fine city behind him, and successive sovereigns had 
added to and improved it until it is now one of the finest cities in 



446 



AROUND THE WORLD. 



Europe. In the number and immense size of its public buildings 
it may be said to surpass all the European capitals. The popu- 
lation of the city is 667,026. 

The Neva flows through the city, and its banks are walled up 
with massive masonry, forming handsome quays along which are 
situated the Imperial Palaces, the various public buildings, and 
the handsomest residences. 

On the 8th of August, General Grant and party set out for 
Moscow. The distance is 400 miles, and the road, which unites 




ST. ISAAC'S PLACE— ST. PETERSBURG. 

the two places and which is a very good one, was built by two 
American contractors, Messrs. Winans, of Baltimore, and Harri- 
son, of Philadelphia. The road is also one of the straightest in 
existence, running in almost a direct line between the two 
points. An elegant carriage was placed at General Grant's dis- 
posal, and the railway officials were courteous and attentive. 
Consequently, the journey was made comfortably, and Moscow 
was reached on the 9th. 



,,,i)))MIJgCgg mi,.: , v; , ,:,,"ii 1 i '.■ 



m 



iiR 



MM 



■ 




(447) 



448 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Moscow is the ancient capital of the Russian Empire. It 
claims a population of 800,000 inhabitants. It lies on both sides 
of the Moskva river, is circular in form, and covers a large area 
of ground. It is in appearance half European, half Asiatic, and 
this gives to it a grotesque aspect in spite of its magnificence. 
It is enclosed with walls, the streets are wide and long, and are 
in some instances paved. 

The principal object of interest in Moscow is the Kremlin or 
citadel. It is two miles in circuit, and is a city in itself. It was 
the only part of old Moscow that escaped the conflagration at 
the time of the French occupation in 181 2, and the injuries it 
suffered then have been entirely repaired. It is " crowded with 
palaces, churches, monasteries, arsenals, museums, and buildings 
of almost every imaginable kind, in which the Tartar style of 
architecture, with gilded domes and cupolas, generally predomi- 
nates. There are towers of every form — round, square, and 
with pointed roofs ; belfries, donjons, turrets, spires, sentry-boxes 
fixed upon minarets, domes, watch-towers, walls pierced with 
loop-holes, ramparts, fortifications of every species ; whimsical 
devices, incomprehensible inventions, and steeples of every 
height, style, and color, the whole forming a most agreeable pic- 
ture to look on from the distance." 

The Kremlin contains about everything in Moscow of historical 
interest, as well as the principal sights of the city. The Imperial 
Palace is a larg-e and handsome edifice. Its internal decorations 
are beautiful, and it contains one of the finest suites of State 
apartments in Europe. The Treasury of the Palace contains an. 
extensive collection of historical relics of the earlier Russian 
sovereigns. 

The Arsenal is an interesting place to visit. It always con- 
tains an equipment for 150,000 men. 

The churches are numerous ; some of them are very elaborate, 
and contain many interesting historical relics. 

A few pleasant days were passed at Moscow, and then Gen- 
eral Grant determined not to return to St. Petersburg, but to set 
off direct for Warsaw in Russian Poland, 600 miles distant. The 
start was made promptly, and on the 1 3th of August Warsaw 



RUSSIA AND AUSTRIA. 449 

was reached. The travellers were very tired from their long 
railway journey, and several days were passed in the old Polish 
capital to rest. Then the journey was resumed, and on the 
night of the 18th of August, the party reached Vienna. The 
General was met at the railroad station by Minister Kasson, the 
secretaries and members of the American Legation, and a large 
number of the American residents. He was loudly cheered as 
he stepped out of the railway carriage. 

On the 19th the General was visited at the Legation of the 
United States by Count Andrassy, the First Minister of the 
Council, and several colleagues. In the evening he dined with 
the Countess Andrassy and Mrs. Grant at Mrs. Post's. On 
the 20th he had an audience of His Imperial Majesty Francis 
Joseph at the lovely palace of Schoenbrunn, spending the re- 
mainder of the day driving about the imperial grounds and 
forests, and visiting points of interest in that romantic and 
historic neighborhood. 

On the 2 1 st General and Mrs. Grant were entertained by the 
imperial family, and dined with the Emperor in the evening. 
During the morning Baron Steinberg accompanied the Em- 
peror's American guests to the Arsenal. 

On the 2 2d Minister Kasson gave a diplomatic dinner in 
honor of our ex-President, at which nearly all the foreign Am- 
bassadors were present. The members of the Austro-Hungarian 
Cabinet attended the reception in the evening, and added to the 
attractiveness and brilliancy of the occasion. The General ex- 
pressed himself greatly pleased with Vienna. He was gratified 
also at the marked attentions of the Emperor's household and 
the earnest endeavor shown to honor him as a citizen of the 
United States. 

Vienna is situated on the plain of the Danube, and is one of 
the most splendid cities of Europe. It has a population of 
833,855 inhabitants. It is nearly circular in shape, with a cir- 
cumference of twelve miles. The city is compactly and hand- 
somely built, the streets being broad, well laid off, and lined with 
magnificent edifices. 

A prominent feature of Vienna is the Prater, the principal 
29 



45o 



AROUND THE WORLD. 




FRANCIS JOSEPH I., EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA. 

pleasure-ground or Park of the city. It is frequented by all 
classes. 

The principal building is the Cathedral of St. Stephen, which 
marks the very centre of the city, and from which all the streets 
radiate. It is a magnificent Gothic structure, with a spire 450 
feet high. 

It would not be possible to give a complete description of 
Vienna within the limits allowed us, and so we must pass on. 

Vienna proved so pleasant that the General was tempted to 
overstay his time several days. 




(45i) 



452 AROUND THE WORLD. 

From Vienna the travellers went to Munich, the capital of 
Bavaria, where several days were passed in seeing the city and 
its rich art treasures. A halt was also made at the venerable 
town of Augsburg, from which place the journey was continued 
through Ulm into Switzerland. Halts were made at Schaffhausen 
and Zurich. On the 23d of September, Mr. S. H. Byers, the 
American Consul at Zurich, entertained General Grant at a 
dinner at which the Burgomaster and the city authorities were 
present. 

From Zurich General Grant returned to Paris by way of 
Lyons. 



CHAPTER XII. 

SPAIN, PORTUGAL, IRELAND. 

Departure of General Grant for Southern France — A Message from the King of Spain — A 
Change of Plans — Departure for Spain — Biarritz — Irun — Interview with Castelar — Arrival 
at Vittoria — General Grant's Interview with the King of Spain — A Pleasant Meeting — The 
Boy-King — A Review — Arrival at Madrid — Life in Madrid — Visit to the Escurial — Gen- 
eral Grant Witnesses the Attempted Assassination of King Alfonso — Visit to Lisbon — Cor- 
dial Reception by the King of Portugal — General Grant and the King at the Opera — Gen- 
eral Grant Dines with the King's Father — Visit to Cintra — General Grant Returns to Spain 
— Visit to Cordova — The Mosque — General Grant at Seville — Visit to the Duke of Mont- 
pensier — General Grant at Cadiz — A Spanish City — The Angelus Bells — A Visit to Gibraltar 
— Lord Napier Entertains General Grant — Return to Spain — The Journey to Paris — Gen- 
eral Grant in London — Departure for Ireland — Reception at Dublin — Presented with the 
Freedom of the City — Visit to Londonderry — Enthusiastic Reception — Visit to Belfast — A 
Cordial Greeting — General Grant Returns to England — Grant in Paris — Preparations for 
the Indian Tour. 

N the ioth of October, 1878, General Grant and party 
left Paris for a trip through Southern France. Several 
places of interest in the wine country were visited, and 
at last Bordeaux was reached. 

" It was the intention of General Grant when he left Paris," 
says Mr. Young, in his letter to The New York Herald, " to make 
a short visit to the Pyrenees, and especially Pau. But when he 
came to Bordeaux he was met by a message from the King of 
Spain, who was at the time at Vittoria, directing the manoeuvres 
of his troops, and who especially requested that the General 
would honor him with a visit. If there is one thing the General 
dislikes it is reviewing troops ; but the message from the King 
was so cordial that it could hardly be declined. Accordingly Pau 
was postponed, and the General went on as far as Biarritz, meaning 
to rest over night and cross the frontier next day. Biarritz was 
very beautiful. After cloudy Paris there was something joyous 
in the sunshine which lit up the old Biscayan town and streamed 
out over the sea. And the sea ! How glorious it was to see it, 

(453) 




454 AROUND THE WORLD. 

really see it, after so much living among rivers and hedges, and 
to feel that the farthest waves washed the coasts of dear America ! 
Biarritz is a small frontier town, where the French come in winter 
and the Spaniards in summer. It juts out into the sea, and has 
a peculiar rocky formation, which breaks into ravines and caverns, 
and admits of quaint walks and drives. Biarritz might have 
lived on for a few centuries its drowsy existence, like hundreds 
of other towns which have a sea-coast and sand over which 
bathers could paddle and splash, entirely unknown, had not the 
last Napoleon builded himself a seaside residence. His wife 
had fancied Biarritz in early Spanish days, and it is supposed the 
house was built to please her. But from that moment Biarritz 
became famous. Many of the most interesting events of the 
Third Empire happened on this beach. You will read about the 
time they had in the books of Prosper Merimee. Biarritz seems 
to have been to the Empress Eugenie what the Trianon gardens 
in Versailles were to Marie Antoinette. It was here that she 
could do as she pleased, and it was so near Spain that old 
friends could drop in and talk about old times. 

"We entered Spain about noon, passing many scenes of 
historical interest. I do not remember them all, the bewitching 
beauty of the coast and landscape usurping all mere historical 
reflections. 

"At Irun there were a number of Spanish officers of high 
grade who awaited the coming of General Grant. They came 
directly from the King, who was at Vittoria, some hours distant. 
Orders had been sent to receive our ex-President as a Captain- 
General of the Spanish army. This question of how to receive 
an ex-President of the United States has been the source of 
tribulation in most European Cabinets, and its history may make 
an interesting chapter some day. Spain solved it by awarding 
the ex-President the highest military honors. More interesting by 
far than this was the meeting with Mr. Castelar, the ex-President 
of Spain. Mr. Castelar was in our train and on his way to San 
Sebastian. As soon as General Grant learned that he was 
among the group that gathered on the platform he sent word 
that he would like to know him. Mr. Castelar was presented to 



SPAIN, PORTUGAL, IRELAND. 455 

the General, and there was a brief and rapid conversation. The 
General thanked Mr. Castelar for all that he had done for the 
United States, for the many eloquent and noble words he had 
spoken for the North, and said he would have been very much 
disappointed to have visited Spain and not met him ; that there 
was no man in Spain he was more anxious to meet. Castelar is 
still a young man. He has a large, dome-like head, with an 
arching brow that recalls in its outline the brow of Shakespeare. 
He is under the average height, and his face has no covering but 
a thick, drooping mustache. You note the Andalusian type, 
swarthy, mobile, and glowing eyes that seem to burn with the 
sun of the Mediterranean. Castelar's presidency was a tempest 
with Carlism in the North, and Communism in the South, and 
the Monarchy everywhere. How he held it was a marvel, for he 
had no friend in the family of nations but America, and that was 
a cold friendship. But he kept Spain free, and executed the 
laws and vindicated the national sovereignty, and set on foot by 
his incomparable eloquence the spirit which pervades Spain 
to-day, and which, sooner or later, will make itself an authority 
which even the cannon of General Pavia cannot challenge. It 
was a picture, not without instructive features, this of Castelar, 
the orator and ex- President of Spain, conversing on the platform 
of the frontier railway station with Grant, the soldier and ex- Presi- 
dent of the United States. ' When I reach Madrid,' said the Gen- 
eral, ' I want to see you.' ' I will come at any time,' said Castelar. 
The only man in Spain who received such a message from Gen- 
eral Grant was Emilio Castelar. 

"A slight rain was falling as the train entered Vittoria, but the 
town is in a glow. The open space in front of our hotel is filled 
with booths and dealers in grains and other merchandise. The 
traders sit over their heaps of beans, peppers, melons and 
potatoes. They are mainly women, who wear a quaint Basque 
costume ; the men in red and blue bonnets, with blue blouses, 
mostly faded, and red sashes swathed about the waist. These 
cavaliers spend most of their time smoking cigarettes, watching 
their wives at work. Now and then a swarthy citizen in a 
Spanish cloak saunters by, having been to mass or to coffee, and 



456 AROUND THE WORLD. 

eager to breathe the morning air. A farmer drives over the 
primitive stony street. His team is a box resting on two clumsy 
wooden wheels. When you remember that it has taken two 
thousand years of Basque civilization — the most ancient, perhaps, 
in Europe — to produce this wheel, you may guess how far the 
people have advanced. The team is drawn by two oxen, with 
their horns locked together and their heads covered by a fleece. 
In the cart is a pig, ready for the last and highest office a pig can 
pay to humanity. Other carts come laden with hay drawn by 
the slow, shambling oxen, all seeking a market. You hear drums 
and trumpets and army calls. The town is a camp, and ladies 
are thronoqno- the lattice windows and soldiers come swarming- 
out of the narrow streets into the market place. This is the 
season of the manoeuvres. A crowd of citizens stand in the 
street about a hundred paces from our hotel, quiet, expectant, 
staring into an open gateway. This gateway leads into a long, 
irregular, low range of buildings of yellowish stone and red tiles. 
Over the gate clings the flag of Spain, its damp folds clustering 
the pole. A black streamer blends with the yellow and crimson 
folds, mourning the death of the Queen. Natty young officers 
trip about, their breasts blazoned with decorations, telling of vic- 
tories in Carlist and Cuban wars, all wearing mourning on their 
arms for the poor young Mercedes. The sentinels present arms, 
a group of elderly officers come streaming out of the gateway. 
At their head is a stripling with a slight mustache and thin, dark 
side whiskers. In this group are the first generals in Spain 
— Concha, Quesada — captain-generals, noblemen, helmeted, 
spurred, braided with gold lace, old men with gray hairs. The 
stripling they follow, dressed in captain-general's uniform, and 
touching his cap to the crowd as it uncovers, is Alfonso XII., 
King of Spain. 

"When General Grant reached Vittoria there were all the 
authorities out to see him, and he was informed that in the 
morning the King would meet him. Ten o'clock w 7 as the hour, 
and the place was a small city hall or palace, where the King 
resides when he comes into his capital. At ten the General 
called, and was escorted into an ante-room where were several 




VITTORIA. 



(457) 



458 AROUND THE WORLD. 

aides and generals in attendance. He passed into a small room, 
and was greeted by the King. The room was a library, with 
books and a writing-table covered with papers, as though his 
Majesty had been hard at work. His Majesty is a young man, 
twenty past, with a frank, open face, side whiskers and mustache 
like down. He was in the undress uniform of a captain-general, 
and had a buoyant, boyish way about him which made one sorrow 
to think that on these young shoulders should rest the burdens 
of sovereignty. How much he would have given to have gone 
into the green fields for a romp and a ramble — those green fields 
that look so winsome from the window. It was only yesterday 
that he was among his toys and velocipedes, and here he is a real 
King, with a uniform showing that he ranks with the great gen- 
erals of the world heavily braided with bullion. Alfonso speaks 
French as though it was his own tongue, German and Spanish 
fluently, but not so well, and English with good accent, but a 
limited vocabulary. When the General entered, the King gave 
him a seat and they entered into conversation. There was a 
little fencing as to whether the conversation should be in English 
or Spanish. The general said he knew Spanish in Mexico, but 
thirty-five years had passed since it was familiar to him and he 
would not venture upon it now. The King was anxious to speak 
Spanish, but English and French were the only tongues used. 

" The King said he was honored by the visit of General Grant, 
and especially because the General had come to see him in 
Vittoria ; otherwise he would have missed the visit, which would 
have been a regret to him. He was very curious to see the 
General, as he had read all about him, his campaigns and his 
Presidency, and admired his genius and his character. To this 
the General answered that he would have been sorry to have 
visited Europe without seeing Spain. The two countries — Spain 
and the United States — were so near each other in America that 
their interests were those of neighbors. 

"The General then spoke of the sympathy which was felt 
throughout the United States for the King in the loss of his wife. 
The King said that he had learned this, had seen its evidence in 
many American newspapers, and it touched him very nearly. 



SPAIN, PORTUGAL, IRELAND. 459 

He then spoke of the Queen. His marriage had been one of 
love, not of policy. He had been engaged to his wife almost 
from childhood — for five years at least. He had made the mar- 
riage in spite of many difficulties, and their union, although brief, 
was happy. No one knew what a help she had been in combat- 
ing the difficulties of the situation, for it was no pleasure to be an 
executive — no easy task, The General had seen something of 
it, and knew what it was. To this the General answered that he 
had had eight years of it, and they were the most difficult and 
burdensome of his life. The King- continued to dwell on the 
burdens of his office. Spain was tranquil and prosperous, and 
he believed she was entering upon a career of prosperity; and 
from all parts of his kingdom came assurances of contentment 
and loyalty. There were no internecine wars, like the Carlists 
in the North or the Communists in the South, and Cuba was 
pacified. All this was a pleasure to him. But there were diffi- 
culties inseparable from the royal office. While his wife lived, 
together they met them, and now she was gone. His only sol- 
ace, he continued, was activity, incessant labor. He described 
his way of living — rising early in the morning, visiting barracks, 
reviewing troops, and going from town to town. 

"All this was said in the frankest manner — the young King 
leaning forward in his chair, pleased, apparently, at having some 
one to whom he could talk, some one who had been in the same 
path of perplexity, who could feel as he felt. The General en- 
tered into the spirit of the young man's responsibilities, and the 
talk ran upon what men gain and lose in exalted stations. There 
was such a contrast between the two men — Alfonso in his gfen- 
eral's uniform, the President in plain black dress, fumbling an 
opera hat in his hand. In one face were all the joy and expec- 
tancy of youth — of beaming, fruitful youth — just touched by the 
shadow of a great duty and a heart-searing sorrow. Behind him 
the memory of his love, his dear love, torn from his arms almost 
before he had crowned their lives with the nuptial sacrament — 
before him all the burdens of the throne of Spain. In the other 
face were the marks of battles won and hardships endured and 
triumphs achieved — and rest at last. One face was young and 



400 AROUND THE WORLD. 

fair, the skin as soft as satin, youth and effort streaming from the 
dark, bounding eyes. The other showed labor. There were 
lines on the brow, gray hairs mantling the forehead, the beard 
gray and brown, the stooping shoulders showing that Time's 
hand was bearing upon them. One was twenty years of age, the 
other fifty-six; but in feeling, at least, it seemed that the younger 
of the two was the ex-President. Care and sorrow had stamped 
themselves on the young King's face. 

"At eleven o'clock General Grant, King Alfonso, and a splen- 
did retinue of generals, left the King's official residence to witness 
the manoeuvres which were to take place on the historic field of 
Vittoria, where the French, under Joseph Bonaparte and Jourdan, 
were finally crushed in Spain by the allies under Wellington 
(June 21, 1813). 

"King Alfonso and General Grant rode at the head of the 
column, side by side, His Majesty pointing out the objects of in- 
terest to the right and the left, and, when the vicinity of the 
famous field was reached, halting for a few minutes to indicate to 
his guest the location of the different armies on that famous June 
morning. As they proceeded thence General Concha was called 
to the side of the King and introduced to General Grant. Sev- 
eral other distinguished officers were then presented. The 
weather was very fine, and the scene was one of great interest 
to the American visitor. General Grant spent all day on horse- 
back, witnessing the manoeuvres." 

In the evening General Grant dined with the King, and the 
next day there was a grand review of the troops held in his 
honor. 

From Vittoria General Grant went to Madrid, reaching that 
city on the 28th of October. "General Grant's visit to Madrid," 
says Mr. Young, in his letter to The New York Herald, "may be 
summed up briefly, so far as the festivities and ceremonies were 
concerned. James Russell Lowell, our Minister, met him at the 
station, when the General was welcomed on behalf of the King 
by the civil authorities, and especially by Colonel Noeli, a Spanish 
officer of distinction, who was detailed to attend him. The King 
had not arrived, but was in the north visiting Espartero and 



SPAIN, PORTUGAL, IRELAND. 46 1 

reviewing his conscripts. Mr. Lowell gave the General a dinner 
and a reception, where men of all parties came to pay their re- 
spects to the ex-President. It seemed like a truce in the heat 
of Spanish politics to see Canovas and Castelar in Mr. Lowell's 
saloons in long and friendly converse; but I presume there is a 
life behind the scenes in Spanish politics as in our own, and that 
patriots and national enemies may talk opera over cakes and ale. 
There was a dinner at the Presidency of the Council, the only 
State dinner given since the poor Queen died. There were 
arsenals to be inspected and picture galleries, the royal palace 
and the royal stables. There were long walks about Madrid and 
long talks with Mr. Lowell, whom General Grant had never met 
before, but for whom he conceived a sincere attachment and 
esteem. There were calls from all manner of public men, es- 
pecially from Captain-General Jovellar, with whom the General 
had satisfying talks about Cuba, and one from Castelar, whom 
the General was most anxious to see. Castelar had been so 
friendly to the North in our war, and he had been also a consti- 
tutional President of the Republic, and the General was anxious 
to do him honor. He contemplated a dinner to Castelar. But 
Spanish politics is full of torpedoes, and the General was in some 
sort a guest of the nation, and it was feared that the dinner might 
be construed into a republican demonstration — an interference 
in other people's affairs — and it was abandoned. 

"There were excursions to Toledo and to the Escurial, of 
which something may be said at another time. What impressed 
your correspondent in Madrid were the changes that had taken 
place since his former visit, five years ago. It seemed to have 
become transformed from a Spanish into a French town. New 
stores had sprung up on the Alcala, and new hotels advised you 
that they gave meat and entertainment in the French fashion. 
Street railways traverse the narrow highways, and it seemed a 
desecration, almost, to hear jangling car bells in the drowsy old 
alleys along which I used to pad my way to the street of Isabel 
the Catholic to hear from Sickles or Adee what had happened to 
Spain during the night. For poor Spain was then in an interest- 
ing condition and the strangest births were then coming to light. 



462 AROUND THE WORLD. 

And when we had nothing else to do we used to go out and join 
the people when they went to demonstrate before the public 
offices — generally before the Palace of the Interior, on the Puerta 
del Sol, where there was room to shout and hustle and carry our 
banners, and where, moreover, Pi y Margall was in power. Pi, 
being a friend of the people, was sure to give us a welcome and 
tell us to be patient and we should have bread and work. Some- 
times we used to go down to the Cortes and demonstrate in favor 
of more radical measures and more speed in making the Repub- 
lic, and wait until Castelar and Salmeron and Garrido came out 
that we might hail them as friends of liberty and saviours of Spain. 
Pi was arrested the other day as a revolutionist, and Garrido is in 
exile, and Castelar, almost alone among Republicans, is tolerated 
in the Cortes because of his marvellous eloquence, and because, 
as Canovas said when he sent word to the government agents not 
to oppose his return, 'A Spanish Cortes would be nothing with- 
out Emilio Castelar.' And so in five years the world wags its 
curious course. 

"In those days Madrid was a Spanish town, and it was pleasant 
to walk in the streets and see the quaint, picturesque life so new 
to Saxon eyes; to see the varied costumes of the provinces, to 
hear the odd cries, to visit the cafes, with their curious drinks of 
almond and pomegranate and orange, temperate and tasteless, 
and see damsels and wrinkled women gorging ices and grave 
men smoking cigarettes. Pleasant was the Prado when the 
evening shadows came, and all Madrid was out to take the air 
and see the wonderful beauty of the skies, which have a beauty 
of their own in this captivating Spain. Pleasant it was to stroll 
up and down the Prado and see the maidens, with vails and man- 
tillas, grouped in couples, with demure, gazelle-like eyes that 
looked at you so shyly, and if they spoke at all it was with a 
glance or with the fan, which, in the hand of a Spanish lady, is an 
organ of speech. Pleasant it was to see the nurses in Andalu- 
sian peasant costumes, their brown faces and ripe, bonny bosoms, 
which children were draining, ranged in chairs and watching the 
swaying world in unconscious, innocent wonder. Pleasant were 
the dancing groups which you met in the public squares or the 



SPAIN, PORTUGAL, IRELAND, 463 

denser parts o. the town, dancing their slow measured step to the 
music of a guitar and the time of the castanet And the bull 
fighters on Sunday afternoon ! Was anything more pleasant 
than to stroll up the Alcala and study the hurrying crowd, hurry- 
ing- on to the arena to see the bulls, to be there in time for the 
procession ! Maidens, duchesses, beggars, statesmen, priests, 
workingmen and soldiers, parents and their children are hurrying 
to the ring. Pleasant were the evenings at Cafe Fornos, with 
old Dr. Mackeehan, the oldest American resident in Madrid, at 
the head of the table, and telling his recollections of a generation 
of Spanish life, especially his recollections of the dynasty of 
American Ministers under whom he had served, from Barringer 
to Cushing, and how he had seen Soule fight his duel, and how 
he hated a certain Secretary of Legation. I have never, by the 
way, seen an expatriated American who did not have some cher- 
ished hatred which he nourished and worshipped — as the Hin- 
doos do idols of evil import — and generally it was another 
American. But there was no kindlier or friendlier soul than the 
old Doctor, and nothing pleased him more than to celebrate the 
Fourth of July. Pleasant were the dinners Adee and I were 
wont to have with our mysterious friend, who lived in an upper 
story — our mysterious friend, whose business every one was 
seeking to know, and no one could discover — and who always 
roasted his partridges himself after we had arrived. Pleasant 
were the brisk walks with Forbes over the windy plains around 
Madrid and the strolls with Austin in the narrow streets of the 
old town. Pleasant it was to hear the Minister throw his leg 
over his crutch and preach about Spain and the Republic, and 
marvellous preaching it was, for he knew Spain well and believed 
in the Republic. But how changed ! Cold winds drive maidens 
and nurses from the Prado. The Fornos table, with the good 
Doctor at the head, has vanished in the State Department, and 
Forbes is in Afghanistan and Austin in India, and a new Minister 
reigns in the stead of the Seventy, and as I passed the old Lega- 
tion on Isabel the Catholic street, I was informed by public pla- 
card that if I wished to rent the building I had only to say the 
word and take possession. 



464 AROUND THE WORLD. 

"Even the bull ring has gone — the clumsy old bull ring, with its 
narrow entrances and dingy boxes and strangest smells, and 
blocks upon blocks of imposing houses occupy its site. There is 
a new bull ring a half mile further out — a spick-and-span affair 
of brick, which does not look like a bull ring, but a Moody and 
Sankey tabernacle of the Chicago order of architecture. New 
avenues stretch in all directions paved with curbstones, and 
young trees, and buildings, everywhere artisans at work — new 
buildings in every part of the town. The aspect of the city has 
wholly changed. There is the Calle Mayor and the old Plaza. 
I always visit that antique enclosure, because it reminds me of 
the days w r hen Spain was really governed by kings. Plaza Mayor 
was where the heretics were tried and sentenced to be burned ; 
and there was the balcony where those sovereigns of sainted 
memory — Charles II., Philip III. and other divinely-vouchsafed 
princes — were wont to perch themselves and see the trials go on 
and hear monks denounce heresy and applaud with tingling fin- 
gers as the poor wretches, in their costumes of degradation, were 
led to the stake. It was here, too, that Charles I. of England, 
also of blessed memory, came to witness a bull fight — one of the 
most famous exhibitions ever given — the fighters being gentle- 
men of quality, and one of them a young woman, who attacked a 
bull singly and killed it with her dagger. This Plaza Mayor 
seemed to have outlived any fear of change, and it was pleasant 
to wander under its arches and look at the trees and study Philip 
III. on horseback and summon back the phantoms who once made 
it their holiday. But even the plaza is changed and has become 
a mere market, with shops, where you can buy cheap jewelry and 
clothes, and prominent are placards in eulogy of American ma- 
chines and canned meats. All the color and repose of the old 
plaza have vanished. The sewing machine has taken the place 
of the auto de fe, and, as an antiquity, Plaza Mayor has no more 
interest than the Fulton Market or Tweed's ancient Court House 
opposite the City Hall." 

During his stay in Madrid General Grant visited the Palace of 
the Escurial, which is about two hours distant from Madrid. 
"This mammoth edifice, second only to the Pyramids of Egypt 



SPAIN, PORTUGAL, IRELAND. 



465 



in size and solidity, was commenced by Philip II., to fulfil a vow 
made to San Lorenzo, that if the battle of St. Quentin, which 
was fought on the saint's day, should result favorably to him, he 
would erect a temple to his honor ; and also to obey the injunc- 
tions of his father, the Emperor Charles V., to construct a tomb 







■£g§^ 






'„"IJ 



•z-C^.r.-r-r i± 



1 uM £■ 



jJXyfP 




THE ESCURIAL— THE RESIDENCE OF THE KINGS OF SPAIN. 

worthy of the royal family, and most magnificently did he carry 
out both purposes." The building stands on an elevation 2,700 
feet above the sea, and is a rectangular parallelogram in shape. 
It is 744 feet from north to south, and 580 feet from east to west. 
It contains eighty-eight fountains, fifteen cloisters, eighty-six stair- 



466 AROUND THE WORLD. 

ways, sixteen court-yards, and a vast number of apartments. 
Some of these are of great magnificence. The church is espe- 
cially grand. Under the high altar is the royal tomb, in which 
only kings and the mothers of kings can be buried. Charles V. 
and Philip II. lie here. 

A notable incident of General Grant's visit to Madrid was the 
attempted assassination of King Alfonso. General Grant was- 
standing when the shot was fired at a window of the Hotel de 
Paris (situated at the junction of the Carrera San Geronimo and 
the Calle de Alcala), overlooking the Puertadel Sol. This hotel 
is a long distance from the scene of the attack, but looks across 
the great central plaza of Madrid directly down the Calle Mayor. 
General Grant, who was following with his eyes the progress of 
the royal cavalcade which had just passed across the Puerta del 
Sol before him, said to Mr. Young that he clearly saw the flash 
of the assassin's pistol. The General had already " booked " for 
Lisbon by the night train, leaving at seven o'clock, and therefore 
could not in person present his congratulations to King Alfonso ; 
but to Serior Silvera, the Minister of State, who called soon after 
and accompanied him to the railway station, General Grant ex- 
pressed his sympathies, and regrets that he was unable to post- 
pone his journey in order that he might personally call upon his 
Majesty. He begged Senor Silvera to convey to the King his 
sincere congratulations on his escape from the assassin's bullet. 

From Madrid General Grant went to Lisbon, the capital of the 
kingdom of Portugal. 

"Lisbon," says Mr. Young, in his letter to the New York 
Herald, " is a city built as it were on billows. The view from the 
river is very beautiful, recalling in some degree the view of Con- 
stantinople from the Bosphorus. The skies were gracious to our 
coming, and the air was as warm as a Virginia spring. 

" The King of Portugal, on learning that General Grant had 
arrived in Lisbon, came to the city to meet him. There was an 
audience at the palace, the General and his wife meeting the 
King and Queen. The King, after greeting the General in the 
.splendid audience chamber, led him into an inner apartment, 
away from the ministers and courtiers who were in attendance 




(467) 



468 AROUND THE WORLD. 

on the ceremony. They had a long conversation relative to 
Portugal and the United States, the resources of the two coun- 
tries, and the means, if means were possible, to promote the 
commercial relations between Portugal and America. Portugal 
was, above all things, a commercial nation, and her history was a 
history of discovery and extending civilization. Lisbon, in a 
direct line, was the nearest port for ships leaving New York. It 
was on the lines of latitude south of the icebergs, and a pleas- 
anter part of the ocean than the routes to Liverpool. There 
was a harbor large enough to hold any fleet, and the King be- 
lieved that when the new lines of railway through Portugal and 
Spain were built the route would be seventeen miles shorter than 
over the present many-winding way of the Salamanca road. 
The advantages of such a port as Lisbon would be many for 
travellers, and the King had no doubt that markets for American 
produce and manufactures would be found in the countries around 
Lisbon. The King had been a naval officer, and the conversa- 
tion ran into ships of war and naval warfare. There were other 
meetings between the King and the General. The day after the 
palace reception was the King's birthday, and there was a gala 
night at the opera. The King and royal family came in state, 
and durinor the interludes the General had a longf conversation 
with his Majesty. The next evening there was a dinner at the 
palace in honor of the General, the Ministry, and the leading men 
of the court in attendance. The Kine conversed with the Gen- 
eral about other themes — wanted him to go with him and shoot. 
It seems the Kino- is a famous shot. But the General's arrange- 
ments left him no time to accept this courtesy. 

"The King of Portugal, Don Luis I, is a young man in the 
fortieth year of his age, second cousin to the Prince of Wales, 
who is three years his junior, and between whom there is a 
marked resemblance. The Queen is the youngest sister of the 
present King of Italy. The King's father is Prince Ferdinand 
of Saxe-Coburg, cousin of the late Prince Consort of England. 
His first wife, the mother of the King, died many years since. 
His second wife, now living, is an American lady from Boston, 
named Henzler, and is called the Countess d'Edla. One of the 



SPAIN, PORTUGAL, IRELAND. 469 

King's sisters is wife to the second son of the King of Saxony, 
the other wife to Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, 
whose election to the throne of Spain by Prim was one of the 
causes of the war between Germany and France. 

"It seems the King is a literary man, and having translated 
'Hamlet' into Portuguese, the conversation ran into literary 
themes. The King said he hoped to finish Shakespeare and 
make a complete translation into Portuguese. He had finished 
four of the plays — 'Hamlet,' 'Merchant of Venice,' 'Macbeth' 
and 'Richard III.' 'Othello' was under way, and already he had 
finished the first act. The question was asked as to whether His 
Majesty did not find it difficult to translate such scenes as that 
between Hamlet and the gravediggers — almost dialect conversa- 
tions — into Portuguese. The Kino- said he thought this was, 
perhaps, the easiest part. It was more difficult to render into 
Portuguese the grander portions, where the poetry attained its 
highest flight. 'The Merchant of Venice' he liked extremely, 
and ' Richard III.' was in some respects as fine as any of Shakes- 
peare's plays. 'What political insight,' said the King; 'what 
insight into motives and character this play contains ! ' The 
King asked the General to accept a copy of ' Hamlet,' which His 
Majesty presented with an autograph inscription. As the time 
came to leave, the King asked the General to allow him to mark 
his appreciation of the honor the General had done Portugal by 
visiting it by giving him the grand cross of the Tower and Sword. 
The General said he was very much obliged, but that, having 
been President of the United States, and there being a law 
against officials accepting decorations, he would rather, although 
no longer in office, respect a law which it had been his duty to 
administer. At the same time he appreciated the compliment 
implied in the King's offer and would always remember it with 
gratitude. 

" Don Fernando, the King consort and father to the King, was 
also exceedingly courteous to the General. His Majesty is sixty 
years of age, and is a tall, stately gentleman, resembling some- 
what his relative, Leopold I. of Belgium. Don Fernando is one 
of the Coburg house of princes, who are spreading over Europe. 



470 AROUND THE WORLD. 

He belongs to the Catholic wing of the family — these great 
houses having Catholic and Protestant wings, to suit the exigen- 
cies of royal alliances. He came to Portugal forty-two years ago 
as the husband of Dona Maria II., Queen of Portugal, and sister 
to Dom Pedro of Brazil. Dona Maria died in 1853, and Don 
Fernando became regent until his first son, Dom Pedro V., was 
of age. Dom Pedro reigned six years, and was succeeded by his 
brother, the present sovereign. Americans will be pleased to 
know that His Majesty, on his second marriage, selected a Bos- 
ton lady. The marriage is morganatic — that is to say, the 
Church blesses it, but the lady not being royal, the law will not 
recognize her as Oueen. Countess d'Edla, as she is called, is 
much respected in Lisbon. When the General called she es- 
corted him through the various treasure rooms of the palace, and 
seemed delighted to meet one of her countrymen, and especially 
one who had ruled her country. Countess d'Edla seems to have 
had a romantic career. She studied music, and came to sing in 
Lisbon. Here Don Fernando made an acquaintance which 
ripened into love, and in 1869 she became his wife. Don Fer- 
nando, like his son, the King, is an accomplished man, skilled in 
languages and literature, with an especial interest in America. 
He talked to General Grant about California and the Pacific 
coast, and expressed a desire to visit it. His Majesty has a 
curious and wonderful collection of pictures, bric-a-brac, old 
armor and old furniture — one of the most curious and interesting 
houses in Europe. He is fond of painting, and showed us with 
pride some of his painting on porcelain. 

"Finally Don Fernando gave us a pressing invitation to visit 
his palace at Cintra. A visit to Cintra was down in our pro- 
gramme, but the King's invitation put the palace at our disposal, 
a privilege rarely given. Cintra is about fifteen miles from Lis- 
bon, and we were compelled to go early in the morning. Our 
party included the General and his wife, Mr. Dimon, our Consul, 
Viscount Perries and Mr. Cunha de Maier, formerly Portuguese 
Consul-General in the United States, and author of a history of 
the United States in Portuguese. Mr. Moran, our Minister, was 
unable to join us on account of indisposition. The drive was at- 



SPAIN, PORTUGAL, IRELAND. 47 1 

tractive, tnrough a rolling, picturesque country, with cool breezes 
coming in from the sea that made overcoats pleasant. Cintra is 
one of the famous spots in Europe. 

" The Convent of Cintra was seized by the Government in the 
early part of the century, and finally became the property of Don 
Fernando, and at a vast expense he has rebuilt it into a chateau 
or palace, one of the most beautiful in the world. The ' horrid 
crags ' are traversed by good roads, and we ride upon our don- 
keys as easily as we could ride up Fifth Avenue. The mountain 
moss and the sunken glens have all been covered with a rich 
vegetation, notably of the camelia, which is rarely seen in this 
latitude, but which His Majesty has made to grow in profusion. 
Our Lady's House of Woe is the palace of a prince, and as we 
ride under the overarching doorway attendants in royal livery are 
waiting. The house is in Norman-Gothic style, and the rooms 
are what you might see in other palaces. There is a small 
chapel of rare beauty, with exquisite carvings in marble and jas- 
per, illustrating the Passion of our Lord. The beauty of Cintra 
is seen in its fulness as you stand on the lofty turrets. It is 
built on the summit of a rocky hill 3,000 feet high. The descent 
on one side to the village is a triumph of exquisite gardening. 
On the other side the descent is almost precipitous. You look 
from the giddy height at the trees and the tumbled masses of 
rock, tossed and heaped in some volcanic age. You see the 
landscape rise and swell in undulating beauty, and the lengthen- 
ing shadows rippling over it. Far off are the lines of Torres 
Vedras, built by Wellington's armies to defend Lisbon from the 
French. Beyond is the sea, gleaming like amber and pearl. It 
was over that sea that Vasco de Gama sailed, and from this lofty 
summit King Manuel watched his coming and in time saw him 
come, bringing tribute and empire from the Indies. You can see 
if you look carefully the outlines of Mafra palace, built to rival 
the Escurial. You see the Tagus spreading out to the sea, 
forcing its way through forests and hills and valleys until it falls 
into the ocean's arms. Lisbon lies under the Monsanto hills, but 
the view sweeps far beyond Lisbon until it is lost in the ocean. 
There was a fascination in this view that made us loth to leave it, 



472 AROUND THE WORLD. 

and for a long- time we lingered, watching every tint and shadow 
of the picture under the changing sunlight. It is indeed 'the 
glorious Eden ' of Byron's verse. 

"We walked and drove around Cintra village. General Grant 
was so charmed with the place that he regretted he could not 
remain longer. There was a royal engagement bidding him to 
Lisbon. So we dined at Victor's Hotel, and as the night 
shadows came down bundled into our carriages for the long- 
drive home. The air was clear, the skies were bright, and it was 
pleasant to bound over the stony roads and watch the brown 
fields ; to pass the taverns, where peasants were laughing and 
chatting over their wine ; to roll into the city and feel the breezes 
from the river as we came to our hotel. We had made a long 
journey, and the hills we climbed made it fatiguing. But no one 
spoke of fatigue, only of the rapturous beauty which we had 
seen. Cintra itself is worth a long journey to see, and to be 
remembered when seen as a dream of Paradise." 

From Lisbon General Grant returned to Spain, and proceeded 
direct to Cordova. "It was late in the evening," says Mr. Young, 
in his letter to The New York Herald, "and a heavy rain was 
falling, when General Grant and his party reached Cordova. The 
Governor of the city and the authorities were waiting at the 
station. 

"After a long ride it was pleasant to rest, even in the indiffer- 
ent condition of comfort provided in a Spanish inn. There was 
a visit to the theatre, a ramble about the streets, which is Gen- 
eral Grant's modern fashion of taking possession of a town; 
there was a stroll up the Roman bridge, the arches of which are 
as stout and fresh as if the workmen had just laid down their 
tools. There was a visit to a Moorish mill, in which the millers 
were grinding wheat. There was the casino and the ascent of a 
tower from which Andalusia is seen spreading out before us, 
green and smiling. And this sums up Cordova. What you 
read of its ancient Roman and Moorish splendor, all traces of it 
have vanished, and you feel, as you wind and unwind yourself 
through the tortuous streets, that you are in a forgotten remnant 
of Spain. The only evidence of modern life is the railway station. 



SPAIN, PORTUGAL, IRELAND. 473 

" In the morning the mosque was visited. We had thought 
that it might be better to visit the mosque alone, without state 
or ceremony, but the authorities of Cordova were in an advanced 
stage of courtesy, and our visit was in state. It seemed almost 
like a desecration — this dress and parade within these unique 
and venerable walls. The mosque is even now among the won- 
ders of Europe. It stands on the site of an ancient temple of 
Janus. Eleven centuries ago the Moors resolved to build a 
temple to the worship of God and Mohammed his prophet, which 
should surpass all other temples in the world. Out of this reso- 
lution came this building. You can see even now the mosque 
in its day justified the extravagant commendations of the Arabian 
historians. There was an enclosed court-yard, in which orange 
trees were growing and priests walking up and down, taking the 
morning air. This enclosure seemed to be a bit out of Islam, and it 
looked almost like a profanation of Moslem rites to see men in 
attendance wearing the garb of Rome — so cool, so quiet, so 
retired, so sheltered from the outer world that one could well 
imagine it to have been the place of refuge and rest which Mo- 
hammed intended as the special purpose of every mosque. As 
you enter, the first impression is as of a wilderness of low col- 
umns that run in all directions. These columns were formerly 
whitewashed by the Christians after the taking of Cordova, but 
under Isabella's government the whitewash was removed, and 
you now see the ancient red and white brick walls and precious 
stones of which they are made. There is a tradition that most 
of these columns were made out of the materials of the ancient 
Roman temple which stood on this site, and that some were sent 
from the temples of Carthage. It was easy to see that they were 
not the work of any one mind, but rather represent the enter- 
prise of the builders in rummaging among other ruins, or 
the generosity of priests and rulers who showed their desire 
to stand well with the governor of Cordova by sending a quan- 
tity of columns for the mosque. In this way it happens that 
some of the columns are of jasper, others of porphyry, others of 
choice marbles. Some you notice are short, and have had to be 
supplemented by mechanical contrivances. But although a close 



474 AROUND THE WORLD. 

examination of the mosque shows these differences, and really 
adds to its interest, the general effect is unique and imposing. 
You note with impatience that the governors under Charles V. 
had a large part of this incomparable series of arches removed 
to build a modern chapel, and, although the chapel was not with- 
out interest in respect to woodwork and tapestry, its presence 
here seems a violence to all the laws of art, and one can under- 
stand the chagrin of Charles V., who, when he examined the 
mosque for the first time in 1526 and saw what had been done 
in the building of this chapel, said: 'You have built here what 
any one might have built anywhere else, but you have destroyed 
what was unique in the world.' 

" It is difficult to give an exact description of the mosque. Its 
value lies in the impression it makes on you, and in the fact that 
it is an almost perfect monument of Moslem civilization in Spain. 
There is the ever-recurring Oriental arch, the inventor of which 
you sometimes think must have found his type in the orange. 
There are elaborate and gorgeous decorations of the sacred 
places of the mosque, where the Koran was kept, where the 
guilty ones sought refuge and unfortunate ones succor, where 
justice was administered and the laws of the Koran expounded. 
It all seems as clear and fresh — so genial in this Andalusian at- 
mosphere — as it came from the hands of the faithful kings who 
built it. As one strolls through the arches, studying each vary- 
ing phase of Oriental taste, the voices of the priests chanting 
the morning service and the odor of incense are borne upon the 
air. It is startling to find Christians in the performance of their 
sacred office within the walls of a building consecrated by the 
patience and devotion of the unfortunate Moors." 

From Cordova the travellers went to Seville, which was reached 
on the morning of December 4th, 1878. 

"Our stay in Seville," says Mr. Young, in his letter to The 
New York Herald, "was marked by one incident of a personal 
character worthy of veneration — the visit of General Grant to the 
Duke of Montpensier. The day after General Grant arrived in 
Seville the Duke called on him, and the next day was spent by 
the General and his party in the hospitable halls and gardens of 




(475) 



476 AROUND THE WORLD. 

St. Telmo. The Duke regretted that, his house being in mourn- 
ing on account of the death of his daughter, Queen Mercedes, 
he could not give General Grant a more formal welcome than 
a quiet luncheon party. The Duke, the Duchess and their 
daughter were present, and after luncheon the General and Duke 
spent an hour or two strolling through the gardens, which are 
among the most beautiful in Europe. The Duke spoke a great 
deal of his relations with America, and especially of the part 
which his nephews had played in the war against the South. 
At the close of the reception the General drove back to the 
hotel." 

After leaving Seville, the route of General Grant and his 
party lay along the beautiful Guadalquiver to Cadiz, sixty-seven 
miles distant. Cadiz was reached on the 6th of December. 

Cadiz is a beautiful city, lying directly upon the sea, and en- 
joying a most delightful climate. "As you saunter along the 
streets," says Mr. Young, in his letter to The New York Herald, 
"you see the outside life of Spain. As the afternoon lengthens 
and the white houses become tawny in the shadows of the de- 
scending sun, it is pleasant to stroll out to the Battery. You 
have no care as to your road, for in this mazy town the first 
corner into any road will lead to the Battery. All the world is 
going with you — grave, stately senors to smoke their cigarettes 
in the cooling, wholesome air, and gracious senoras in their be- 
witching Spanish costumes, who glance at you with their deep^ 
black, Oriental eyes and float along. My best authority on the 
ladies of Cadiz is that of Lord Byron. But His Lordship pays 
tribute to this beauty at the expense of higher qualities when he 
pays Cadiz a 'sweeter though ignoble praise,' and tells how 
Aphrodite made her shrive within these white walls. 

" Lord Byron was more of a poet than a historian in these 
criticisms. You can trust his Lordship in his descriptions of 
scenery, but not in historical or moral reflections. And as you 
float on this ripple of beauty that wafts on toward the Battery 
and the sea, you feel that so much beauty must have a higher 
purpose than revelry and crime, and that the sweeping lines in 
' Childe Harold' were applied to Cadiz because they happened to 



SPAIN, PORTUGAL, IRELAND. 477 

fit, and might as well have been written about Cowes or Hamburg. 
In the evening every one goes to the Battery. The air is warm 
with the sunshine, with airs that come from Africa, yet tempered 
with the ever-soothing influence of the sea. The gardens are in 
bloom — the orange, the pomegranate, the banana and the palm. 
You stroll along the Battery wall and look out on the sea. The 
waves ripple on the shore with the faintest murmur. A fleet of 
fishing boats is at anchor, and their graceful bending masts recall 
the lateen masts of the Nile. A couple of boats have just come 
in and are beached above the receding tide, and the fishermen, 
up to their knees in water, are scrubbing the sides and the keel. 
The work is pleasant, and the sea has been good, I hope, in its 
offerings, for they sing a graceful song to lighten their labors. 
The tinkling bells denote the patient, heavy-laden donkeys, who 
pace their slow way along the beach, laden with fish or fruit or 
water or wine. The city is on your right, the white walls rising 
on the terraced hills, glowing with white as they are seen against 
this deep blue sky. There are Moorish domes and Arabian 
turrets, that show all the meaning of their graceful outlines as 
you see them now massed into a picture, warmed with the richer 
hues of the descending sun. How beautiful is Cadiz, seen as 
you see her now, looking out like a sentinel upon the sea ! And 
thus she has stood, a sentinel between contending- civilizations, 
for ages. I am almost afraid to say how many ages ; but the 
books will tell you that Hercules founded Cadiz more than three 
centuries before Rome was born, eleven centuries before our 
Saviour died. Here where the oceans meet, the southernmost 
point of Continental Europe, teeming Africa only a step beyond 
— here for ages, and through so many civilizations, the city whose 
glowing towers grow pink and purple in the sun's passing rays 
has stood guard. You think of the tides that have rolled and 

o 

receded over the Mediterranean world, of cities that once ruled 
the world with their enterprise and splendor ; of envious Babylon 
and forgotten Tyre, and remember that modest Cadiz, who never 
sought empire, never challenged the cupidity of the bandit, has 
passed through the storms that destroyed her splendid rivals 
and seems good for centuries more. Just over this smooth sea, 



478 AROUND THE WORLD. 

where you might run in a few hours with one of these fishing- 
boats, is a sandy seaside plain where Arabs grow corn and dates 
and loll in the noonday sun. This was Carthage, and how she 
looked down upon poor little Cadiz in her day, with her fleets 
proudly sweeping around these shores and promontories, with 
her armies striding over mountain and valley, with her captains 
resolved to conquer the world! Yet of Carthage only the name 
remains, only a shadow, and modest Cadiz keeps her guard here, 
watching the splendors of London and New York and Paris, 
seeing all the world carry them tribute, seeing the flags of the 
Englishman sweep past her shores as proudly as the fleets of 
Hannibal and Caesar in other days. I wonder if beautiful Cadiz 
has patience in recalling this, and is content with her modest 
work, and feels that she will keep guard perhaps when the glory 
that now environs her has passed like that which once came from 
Carthage and Rome, and the sceptre of a world's supremacy will 
have passed to other hands. 

" You think of these things as you lean over this battery wall 
and look at the beautiful city, growing more beautiful in the purple 
and pearl of the descending sun. A freshening breeze comes 
over the sea and the waves purr and play as they gambol on the 
rough, stony beach. A ship comes hurrying in, hugging the 
coast, scudding on at full sail. How beautiful she looks ! Every 
sail set, her flag sending signals to the shore, her prow bent for- 
ward like a strong man running his race, anxious for the goal. 
In a few minutes the evening gun will lire and the port will close. 
So she flies along, firm in her purpose, eager diving, laden with 
the purposes and achievements of another world, minister and 
messenger of peace. I remember an idle discussion — perhaps I 
read it in some forgotten book, perhaps I heard it in some foolish 
dinner debate — as to which was the most beautiful object in the 
world, a maiden in the fulness of her years, a racehorse at his 
highest speed, or a ship in full sail. I have forgotten what my 
own views may have been ; perhaps it was a subject on which I 
had not taken definite sides. But, looking over this sea wall at 
the ship that, with every sail bent wooing the winds and striving 
for the haven, I can well see that the beauty it implies is of the: 



SPAIN, PORTUGAL, IRELAND. 479 

highest and noblest type. There is the beauty of form, the 
snugly set keel breasting the waves, the lines that bend and 
curve, the lines that tower into the air. There is the beauty of 
purpose — which really is the soul of all beauty — the purpose 
being to win the race, to carry her treasure, to make a true and 
good voyage, to do something, to defy wind and waves and relent- 
less seas, and come into this harbor and strew the wharf with 
corn, cotton or oil. There is the beauty of nature, for the sea 
is before us and long lines of hills crest the horizon ; and just 
over the crisp and curling blue a light tint of silver falls, and 
you look into the heavens and there, coming out of the skies, 
you see the outlines of a full-orbed moon that soon will throw a 
new radiance over these towers and hills and waves. You watch 
yon ship as she moves in, and feel that, for this moment at least, 
there is nothing more beautiful, and you are content to see that 
fortune favors her, and that she comes into her refuge before the 
port is closed. 

"As we stand leaning over the sea wall and follow every tint 
of the changing scene, we note the long bronze cannon that look 
through the embrasures, pointing to the sea. They seem out 
of place in Cadiz. Surely she has lived all these ages, triumphant 
over so many civilizations, who would still be living if cannon 
could assure life. They are poor, foolish cannon, too, long, 
narrow bronze affairs, that look puny beside those mighty 
engines which now secure the prowess of England and Ger- 
many. But even Cadiz has human nature, and if other people 
wear cannon, she must needs have cannon. I suppose the 
instinct which prompts these expenses and performances is like 
the instinct which prompts those we love, protect and cherish to 
run into crinoline in one season and into the reverse another. 
Cadiz wears her cannon like crinoline. It is the custom, and her 
sons and daughters look proudly upon these lean, lank, crouching 
guns, and feel that they bar out the opposing world, when, as a 
matter of fact, the opposing world, if it came behind the guns of 
England, would fear those cannon no more than if they were 
bamboo tissues. 

" But we cannot quarrel with the vanities of the beautiful city, 



480 AROUND THE WORLD. 

and hope she deems her cannon becoming. The light starts up 
from various points — a light here and there, giving token of the 
coming night. The ringing of bells falls on the ear — of many 
bells — that ring as though it were a summons or an admonition. 
They come from all parts of the city, and their jangling is tem- 
pered into a kind of music by the distance and the clearness of 
the air. This is the angelus. In this Catholic country it is the 
custom when the sun goes down for the priest to go to his 
prayers, and for all Christian souls to cease whatever calling may 
employ them and for a few moments to join him in his prayer, 
thanking the Virgin for having- given them the blessing- of another 
day, thanking the saints for having watched over them, praying our 
Saviour to be with them alway, and give them at the end the 
grace of a happy death. As the bells ring out you know that all 
Cadiz turns by instinct and for a few moments joins the praying 
priest in his supplications." 

From Cadiz General Grant paid a visit to Gibraltar. " We 
left Cadiz early in the morning," says Mr. Young, in his letter to 
The New York Herald, " and the sea was in her gentlest mood. 
General Dufhe, our gallant and genial consul, was with us. The 
run from Gibraltar carries you past some of the famous cities of 
the world. It is the thin line that divides two continents, the 
barrier over which civilizations have dashed and fallen. Cadiz 
vanishes away. It is a long time before we lose sight of her, as 
for a long time she remains glowing on the horizon, like a radiant 
gem in azure setting. We pass a jutting promontory and enter 
a bay, and we know that here giants have contended, for in this 
bay was fought the battle of Trafalgar seventy-six years ago, and 
the might of England was permitted to grapple with the might 
of France. I suppose no event, for centuries at least, was more 
decisive of the fate of the European world than the battle which 
took place in these smooth waters over which our small bark 
merrily courses, and which we, a party of idle, gossiping tour- 
ists are studying, not without an impatient feeling toward the 
Spanish cooks who are behind with breakfast. There is scarcely 
a breeze to disturb its fair surface, so rent and torn on that fate- 
ful day. 



,: „. ? 





m 




31 



(481; 



482 AROUND THE WORLD. 

" It is not a long journey from Cadiz to Gibraltar, and after 
passing Trafalgar all eyes look for the teeming rock on which 
England holds guard over the highway to India. Gibraltar is 
one in a line of posts which English policy is compelled to retain 
for the defence of her empire. Oddly enough, the impartial ob- 
server cannot help noting that this England, the most inoffensive 
of nations, always craving peace, wishing to molest no one, 
always selects for these posts a position of menace to other 
Powers. 

" The sea was very calm as we came from Cadiz, but as we 
entered Gibraltar Bay it began to roughen. The first thing to 
welcome us was the American flag flying from one of our men- 
of-war. There was some difficulty in distinguishing the vessel 
until we came nearer, when we recognized Captain Robeson and 
several other officers, our old friends and shipmates of the steam- 
ship ' Vandalia.' The General directed his vessel to steam 
around the ' Vandalia,' and cordial greetings were exchanged be- 
tween the two ships. As we headed into port the ' Vandalia ' 
mounted the yards, and Captain Robeson came in his barge to 
take the General on shore. The American Consul, Mr. Sprague, 
and two officers of Lord Napier's staff met the General and 
welcomed him to Gibraltar in the name of the o-eneral command- 
ing. Amid a high sea, which threw its spray over most of the 
party, we pulled ashore. On landing a guard of honor presented 
arms, and the General drove at once to the house of Mr. Sprague, 
on the hill. 

" Mr. Sprafgue has lived many years at Gibraltar, and, I be- 
lieve, is the oldest consular officer in the service of the United 
States. General Grant is the third ex-President he has enter- 
tained at his house. Lord Napier of Magdala, the commander 
at Gibraltar, had telegraphed to Cadiz, asking the General to 
dinner on the evening of his arrival. At seven o'clock the Gen- 
eral and Mrs. Grant, accompanied by the Consul, went to the 
palace of the Governor, called the Convent, and were received in 
the most hospitable manner by Lord Napier. His Lordship had 
expressed a great desire to meet General Grant, and relations of 
courtesy had passed between them before, Lord Napier, who 



SPAIN, PORTUGAL, IRELAND. 483 

commanded the expeditionary force in Abyssinia, having sent 
General Grant King Theodore's Bible. The visit to Gibraltar 
may be summed up in a series of dinners — first, at the Gover- 
nor's palace ; second, with the mess of the Royal Artillery ; 
again, at the Consul's. Then there were one or two private and 
informal dinners at Lord Napier's, and, in fact, most of General 
Grant's time at Gibraltar was spent in the company of this dis- 
tineuished commander — a stroll round the batteries, a ride over 
the hills, a gallop along the beach, a review of troops, and taking 
part in a sham battle. Lord Napier was anxious to show Gen- 
eral Grant his troops, and although, as those who know General 
Grant can testify, he has a special aversion to military dis- 
play, he spent an afternoon in witnessing a march past of the 
British garrison, and afterward a sham battle. It was a beauti- 
ful day for the manoeuvres. General Grant rode to the field 
.accompanied by Lord Napier, General Conolly, and others of 
the staff. Mrs. Grant, accompanied by the Consul and the ladies 
of the Consul's family, followed and took up her station by the 
reviewing post. The English bands all played American airs out 
of compliment to the General, and the review was given in his 
honor. Lord Napier w r as exceedingly pleased with the troops, 
and said to General Grant he supposed they were on their best 
behavior, as he had never seen them do so well. The General 
examined them very closely, and said that he did not see how 
their discipline could be improved. 'I have seen,' said the Gen- 
eral, 'most of the troops of Europe; they all seemed good; I 
liked the Germans very much, and the Spaniards only wanted 
good officers, so far as I could see, to bring them up to the high- 
est standard ; but these have something about them — I suppose 
it is their Saxon blood — which none of the rest possess ; they 
have the swing of conquest.' 

" The General would have liked to have remained at Gibraltar 
longer, but there is nothing in the town beyond the garrison. I 
suppose his real attraction to the place was the pleasure he found 
in Lord Napier's society and again coming in contact with Eng- 
lish ways and customs after having been so long with the stranger. 
Gibraltar is a military despotism tempered by smuggling. Held 



484 AROUND THE WORLD. 

in spite of Spain by a foreign Power, without any dependence 
upon the Power which governs it, except that of a soldier who 
obeys his general, without municipal pride, Gibraltar seems to be 
a refuge for all kinds of characters and adventurers, and depends 
for its support on two industries — first, the industry of supplying 
the wants of the garrison, and, second, that of smuggling tobacco 
into Spain. You will have observed from the debates in the 
Spanish Cortes that Spain complains bitterly that this smuggling 
costs their treasury several millions of dollars a year, and they ask 
England to prevent this. But one of the Spanish officials told 
us in Gibraltar that the main troubles about this smuggling was 
the cupidity of the Spanish officials themselves. There seems to- 
be no reason why England should build and support custom 
houses for Spain, and there was a panic among some of the mer- 
chants at the bare possibility of custom houses being established. 
On the other hand, the fair view of the subject you take is that 
if England holds Spanish territory for her own imperial purposes 
she should, as an act of kindness to a friendly nation, see that 
that possession does not interfere with Spanish prosperity." 

From Gibraltar General Grant returned to Spain and journeyed 
directly north to Paris. But a brief stay was made in Paris, Gen- 
eral Grant and his party proceeding immediately to England. 
General Grant now determined to redeem his promise to visit 
Ireland, and Mrs. Grant decided to remain with her daughter,. 
Mrs. Sartoris, in England, during the General's absence in 
Ireland. 

General Grant left London by the regular mail train on the 
evening of January 2d, 1879, going by way of Holyhead and 
Kingstown. He was accompanied by General Noyes, General 
Badeau, Mr. Russell Teney, and Mr. Fitzgerald. He reached 
Dublin on the morning of January 3d, and was met by the 
representatives of the corporation. He was driven to the Shel- 
bourne Hotel, and at once prepared to visit the City Hall to 
meet the Lord Mayor. The city was full of strangers, and much 
enthusiasm was manifested when the General and his party left 
their hotel to drive to the Mansion House. On arriving at the 
Mayor's official residence, they were cheered by a large crowd 




(485) 



486 AROUND THE WORLD. 

that had gathered to meet the illustrious ex-President. The- 
Lord Mayor, in presenting the freedom of the city, referred to 
the cordiality always existing between America and Ireland, and 
hoped that in America General Grant would do everything he 
could to help a people who sympathize with every American 
movement. The parchment, on which was engrossed the free- 
dom of the city, was enclosed in an ancient carved bog-oak 
casket. 

General Grant appeared to be highly impressed by the gener- 
ous language of the Lord Mayor. He replied substantially as 
follows : " I feel very proud of being made a citizen of the prin- 
cipal city of Ireland, and no honor that I have received has given 
me greater satisfaction. I am by birth the citizen of a country 
where there are more Irishmen, native born or by descent, than 
in all Ireland. When in office I had the honor — and it was a 
great one, indeed — of representing more Irishmen and descend- 
ants of Irishmen than does Her Majesty the Queen of England. 
I am not an eloquent speaker, and can simply thank you for the 
great courtesy you have shown me." Three cheers were given 
for General Grant at the close of his remarks, and then three 
more were added for the people of the United States. 

Mr. Isaac Butt, the well-known Home Rule member of Par- 
liament, speaking as the first honorary freeman of this city, 
congratulated General Grant on having consolidated into peace 
and harmony the turbulent political and sectional elements over 
which he triumphed as a soldier. His speech throughout was 
highly complimentary of the ex-President. 

In the evening General Grant was entertained by the city au- 
thorities at a handsome banquet. The Lord Mayor presided. 

On Saturday, the 4th, General Grant breakfasted with the 
Viceroy, the Duke of Marlborough, and the rest of the day was 
spent in strolling about Dublin and seeing the sights of the city, 
and Sunday was passed quietly at the Shelbourne Hotel. 

At eight o'clock, Monday morning, January 6th, General Grant 
and his party left Dublin for Londonderry. The weather was 
cold, raw, and stormy, but in spite of this large crowds had as- 
sembled at Dundalk, Omagh, Strabane, and other places, and 




(4S7) 



488 AROUND THE WORLD. 

cheered the General enthusiastically upon the arrival and de- 
parture of the train. Londonderry was reached at two o'clock. 
An immense crowd had assembled around the station, and Gen- 
eral Grant's arrival was hailed with a storm of cheers. The 
General was received by the Mayor in a complimentary speech 
of welcome, to which he replied briefly. He then entered his 
carriage, and was driven off to his hotel followed by the crowd, 
which cheered him continuously. A heavy cold rain now set in, 
in the midst of which General Grant, at three o'clock, set out for 
the Town Hall. The crowd was so dense that it was with diffi- 
culty the hall could be reached. At the entrance of the building 
the Mayor and Council, in their robes of office, received the ex- 
President. Amid many expressions of enthusiasm from the 
people of Londonderry, an address was read extolling the mili- 
tary and civil career of General Grant, which was pronounced 
second in honor only to that of Washington. 

General Grant signed the roll, thus making himself an Ulster 
Irishman. He then made a brief address. He said that no in- 
cident of his trip was more pleasant than accepting citizenship at 
the hands of the representatives of this ancient and honored city, 
with whose history the people of America were so familiar. He 
regretted that his stay in Ireland would be so brief. He had 
originally intended embarking from Oueenstown direct for the 
United States, in which case he would have remained a much 
longer time on the snug little island ; but, having resolved to 
visit India, he was compelled to make his stay short. He could 
not, however, he said, in conclusion, return home without seeing 
Ireland and a people in whose welfare the people of the United 
States took so deep an interest. 

The ex-President returned to his hotel, making a short visit at 
the house of Consul Livermore en route. In the evening a hand- 
some banquet was given to General Grant by the Mayor. 

The next morning, January 7th, was spent in exploring the 
sights of the city, and the party left for Belfast, accompanied by 
Sir Harvey Bruce, lieutenant of the county, Mr. Taylor, M. P., 
and other distinguished gentlemen. At every station crowds 
assembled to welcome and cheer General Grant, and among 



SPAIN, PORTUGAL, IRELAND. 489 

those thus assembled were many old soldiers who had served in 
the United States army under General Grant during our recent 
Civil War, and who w T ere eager to greet their old commander. 
At Coleraine there was an immense crowd. General Grant, ac- 
companied by the Member of Parliament, Mr. Taylor, left the 
cars, entered the waiting-room at the depot and received an ad- 
dress. In reply General Grant repeated the hope and belief 
expressed in his Dublin speech that the period of depression was 
ended, and that American prosperity was aiding Irish prosperity. 
At Ballymoney there was another crowd. As the train neared 
Belfast a heavy rain began to fall. 

The train reached Belfast station at half-past two o'clock. The 
reception accorded General Grant was imposing and extraordi- 
nary. The linen and other mills had stopped work, and the 
workmen stood out in the rain in thousands. The platform of 
the station was covered with scarlet carpet. The Mayor and 
members of the City Council welcomed the General, who 
descended from the car amid tremendous cheers. Crowds ran 
after the carriages containing the city authorities and their illus- 
trious guest, and afterward surrounded 'the hotel where the 
General was entertained. 

Belfast was en fete. The public buildings were draped with 
American and English colors, and in a few instances with Orange 
flags. Luncheon was served at four o'clock, and the crowd with 
undaunted valor remained outside amid a heavy snow storm and 
cheered at intervals. The feature of the luncheon was the 
presence of the Roman Catholic Bishop of the diocese, who was 
given the post of honor. The luncheon party numbered 170 — 
the Mayor said he could have had 5,000. 

The Belfast speakers made cordial allusions to many people in 
America, and were anxious to have Grant declare himself in favor 
of free trade, but the General in his reply made no allusions to 
the subject, to the disappointment of many of those present. 
Minister Noyes made a hit in his speech when he said that Gen- 
eral Grant showed his appreciation of Belfast men by appointing 
A. T. Stewart, of Belfast, Secretary of the Treasury, and offering 
George H. Stuart, a Belfast boy, the portfolio of Secretary of the 
.Navy. 



490 AROUND THE WORLD. ■ 

After the luncheon was over General Grant remained quietly 
in his apartments, receiving many calls, some from old soldiers 
who served under him during the war. 

On the morning of the 8th, General Grant and his party, accom- 
panied by Mayor Brown, visited several of the large mills and 
industrial establishments of the city. Before he left the hotel he 
was waited on by a number of the leading citizens and several 
clergymen. Bishop Ryan, the Catholic Bishop of Buffalo, and 
Mr. Cronin, editor of the Catholic Union, were among the callers 
and had a pleasant interview. The General then drove to the 
warehouses of several merchants in the linen trade, to the facto- 
ries and shipyards. At the immense shipyard where the White 
Star steamers were built the workmen, numbering 2,000, gathered, 
around Grant's carriage and cheered as they ran alongside. The 
public buildings and many of the shops were decorated. The 
weather was clear and cold. 

At three o'clock in the afternoon the General left for Dublin. 
Immense crowds had gathered at the hotel and at the railway 
station. The Mayor, with Sir John Preston and the American 
Consul, James M. Donnan, accompanied the General to the 
depot. As the train moved off the crowd gave tremendous 
cheers, the Mayor taking the initiative. One Irishman in an ad- 
vanced staee of enthusiasm called out, "Three cheers for Oliver 
Cromwell Grant ! " To this there was only a faint response. 

At Portadown, Dundalk, Drogheda and other stations there 
were immense crowds, the populations apparently turning out en 
masse. Grant was loudly cheered and thousands surrounded the 
car with the hope of being able to shake the General by the 
hand, all wishing him a safe journey. One little girl created 
considerable merriment by asking the General to give her love 
to her aunt in America. At Dundalk the brother of Robert 
Nugent, who was Lieutenant-Colonel of the Sixty-ninth New 
York Regiment in 1861 and afterward commander of a brigade 
in the Second Corps, Army of the Potomac, said he was glad to 
welcome his brother's old commander. 

The train reached Dublin fourteen minutes behind time. Lord 
Mayor Barrington and a considerable number of persons were on 




. __^J.; _ 



: ')\ i -' - ' - '"-j&i : ,,, 



(490 



492 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the platform at the railway station and cordially welcomed the 
General. As soon as all the party had descended the Lord 
Mayor invited the General into his carriage and drove him to 
Westward Row, where the Irish mail train was ready to depart, 
having been detained eight minutes for the ex-President. 

There was a most cordial farewell and a great shaking of 
hands. The Mayor and his friends begged Grant to return soon 
and make a longer stay. Soon Kingston was reached, and in a 
few minutes the party were in the special cabin which had been 
provided for them on board the mail steamer. Special attention 
was paid to the General by the officers of the vessel. Grant left 
the Irish shores at twenty minutes past seven o'clock. 

London was reached on the morning of the 9th of January, 
and the General spent the day and evening at the residence of 
Mr. John Welsh, the American Minister. 

On Monday, 13th, General Grant and his party left London 
for Paris, reaching that city the same evening. The season was 
so far advanced that an immediate departure for India was 
necessary. 

General Grant spent a week in Paris preparing for his Indian 
voyage, and receiving many attentions at the hands of the au- 
thorities and citizens. On the evening of the 16th he was enter- 
tained by President MacMahon at a grand dinner at the Elysee. 

On the 2 1st he left Paris with his party for Marseilles, intend- 
ing to embark at that place for India. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

INDIA. 

A Change of Plans — The " Richmond " Behind Time — General Grant Embarks at Marseilles 
for India — The Voyage to Alexandria — Railroad Ride to Suez — The " Venetia " — On the 
Red Sea — General Grant and his Party — Life on the Indian Steamer — Killing Time — 
Arrival at Aden — News from Europe — In the Indian Ocean — Arrival at Bombay — General 
Grant's Welcome to India — Malabar Point — The Government House — General Grant at 
Bombay — Life in India — Hospitalities to General Grant at Bombay — The Sacred Caves of 
Elephanta — State Dinner to General Grant — General Grant Leaves Bombay — Visit to- 
Allahabad — Arrival at Agra — The Fort — Visit to the Taj-Mahal — The Most Beautiful 
Building in the World — Hospitalities to General Grant at Agra — Visit to Jeypore — The 
Maharajah Entertains General Grant — The Ride to Amber — The Ancient Capital — An 
Elephant Ride — Jeypore — Reception by the Maharajah — A Nautch Dance — Departure 
from Jeypore — Visit to the Maharajah of Bhurtpoor — A Native Despot — General Grant 
Returns to Agra. 

HEN General Grant returned from Ireland," says Mr. 
Young, in his letter to The New York Herald, "he- 
learned that the American man-of-war 'Richmond,' 
which was to carry him to India, had not left the United States. 
The London Times had announced its sailing on the ioth of 
December, and the General's arrangements had been based 
upon the understanding that the Times' despatch was true. The 
'Richmond,' or any vessel leaving the United States in January, 
must necessarily arrive in India too late to allow you to see the 
country. The warm season comes, and all the General's advices 
were to the effect that he should be out of India by the ist of 
April. He concluded to abandon the 'Richmond,' and leave 
Marseilles for Alexandria on the 'Labourdonnais,' a steamer 
beloneine to the Messagerie Maritime, and connect at Suez 
with the Peninsular and Oriental steamer. On the 24th of Janu- 
ary, at noon, our party embarked on the 'Labourdonnais,' at 
Marseilles. There were several American friends to wish us a 
pleasant journey, and as we turned from the land-locked bay sud- 

(493) 




494 AROUND THE WORLD. 

denly into a high rolling sea, we saw their handkerchiefs waving 
us a last farewell. 

"Our party, as made up for the Indian trip, is composed of 
General Grant, Mrs. Grant, Colonel Frederick D. Grant, Mr. A. 
E. Borie, formerly Secretary of the Navy; Dr. Keating, of Phila- 
delphia, a nephew of Mr. Borie, and the writer. It was remarked 
that a year ago we had visited Thebes, those of us who remained 
as members of the Grant party. Even in so small a company 
time has made changes. The officers of the 'Vandalia,' three of 
whom were the General's guests on the Nile, have gone home. 
Jesse Grant is in California. Hartog, the courier, does not go to 
India. Colonel Grant takes his brother's place. Mr. Borie came 
rather suddenly. His health had not been good, and the sea 
was recommended as a restorative, and the General was de- 
lighted with the idea that one whom he held in so hiorh honor 
would accompany him around the world. 

"Our life on the 'Labourdonnais' maybe briefly told. The 
'Labourdonnais' is an old-fashioned ship, not in the best of order 
and not very comfortable. The table was fair and the attendance 
middling. We were told that it was unfortunate that we had not 
taken some other ship on the line, which would have made all 
the difference in the world. However, I will not complain of the 
'Labourdonnais,' which carried us safely through, and thereby 
earned our gratitude. I have noticed in my seafaring experi- 
ences that the difference between a good ship and a bad one in 
their degrees of comfort is not essential. If you like the sea, and 
have no terror for its tribulations, you will not be critical about 
the ship that bears you. If you do not like the sea, damask and 
sandalwood and spices from Ceylon, with M. Bignon as your 
cook, would not make it welcome. Our first hours on the Med- 
iterranean were on a high sea, but on the second day the sea 
went down, and we had charming yachting weather. On Friday, 
the 24th of January, we passed between Corsica and Sardinia, 
having a good view of the sombre coasts of the former island. 
On the 25th, about noon, Ischia came in sight, and through the 
hazy atmosphere we could trace the faintest outline of Vesuvius. 
The sea was so calm that we were enabled to sail so near the 



india. 495 

shores of Ischia as to note the minutest form of geological strata 
and distinguish minor objects on the shore. Ischia is a beautiful 
island, and we noted smiling villages and inviting bits of sunshine 
and greenery as we sailed along. Then, as the afternoon 
shadows lengthened, we passed the island, and, leaving Capri to 
our right, nestling under a cloudy canopy of azure and pearl, we 
sailed into the Bay of Naples. A year had almost passed since 
we left Naples. But the glorious beauty of the bay was as fresh as 
ever, and as we noted spot after spot in the landscape — the King's 
palace, the place where Brutus found refuge after Caesar's death, 
the scene where Pliny witnessed the destruction of the cities of 
Sorrento and Pompeii, the range of shining hills, the convent 
looking down from a beetling crag, which we climbed one De- 
cember day; the anchorage of the 'Vandalia,' and above all the 
towering volcano, from which came smoke and flame — it was as 
if we were meeting old friends. We came into the harbor, and 
old friends came on board in the person of Mr. Maynard, our 
Minister to Turkey, and Mr. Duncan, our Consul to Naples. 
The Doctor and I went ashore to make sure of a telegraphic 
message that it was my duty to send, but it was so late in the 
afternoon that none of the party followed our example, and as 
the sun went down we steamed out to sea. The last we saw of 
the city was Vesuvius, the smoke resting above it in a dense 
wavy cloud, and the flames flashing like a beacon in the calm 
isummer air. 

"On the morning of the 26th, the Sabbath, Mr. Borie, who has 
earned the first prize for early rising, came to my berth and said 
that Stromboli was in sight. Last year when we sailed through 
these islands Stromboli was drenched in showers and mist, and 
when Lieutenant Strong pointed out the volcano from the quar- 
terdeck of the 'Vandalia,' all I could see was a mass of rain and 
fogf. But here we were sailing- under the shadow of this ancient 
and famous island. What we saw was a volcano throwing out 
ashes and smoke in a feeble, fretful manner, as though jealous 
of its flashing rival in Naples Bay, and a cluster of houses at the 
base, evidently a village. I can understand a good many puz- 
jzling things the older I grow — why Brooklyn will remain an 



49 6 AROUND THE WORLD. 

independent city, why New Jersey does not become annexed to 
Pennsylvania and New York, why an Ohio man may resign 
office — but I cannot conceive any reason for human beings living 
in Stromboli. They are at the absolute mercy of the sea and the 
furnace; they are far away from neighbors and refuge and rescue. 
It must be to gratify some poetic instinct, for Stromboli is poetic 
enough. And now we are coming, with every turn of our screw, 
into the land of classic and religious fame. These islands through 
which we are sailing are the islands visited by the wandering- 
Ulysses. This rock that we study through our glasses in the 
gray morning light is the rock of Scylla, and we sail over 
Charybdis. This town that looks very modern, on whose white 
roofs the sun shines with a dazzling o^are, is Reeeio, which in 
holy days was called Rhegium. It was here that Paul landed 
after Syracuse and Malta adventures, carrying with him the mes- 
sage of Christ, going from this spot to preach the Gospel to all 
mankind. 

"We pass Etna on the left, but the mighty mountain is wrapped 
in mist and cloud and snow. We sail through the Messina Straits, 
the sea scarcely rippling, and we are soon again in the open sea, 
the land fading from view. On the second morning we pass 
close to Crete and see the snowy mountain ranges on that glori- 
ous and unhappy island. At noon they fade, the line of snow 
becoming a line of haze, and as we bid Crete farewell we say fare- 
well to Europe, for we head directly toward Egypt and the Red 
Sea and India, and who knows what beyond. Farewell to Eu- 
rope, and farewell to many a bright and happy hour spent on its 
shores, of which all that now remains is the memory. 

" On the evening of the 29th of January — this being the even- 
ing of the seventh day of our journey from Marseilles — we came 
to an anchor outside of the harbor of Alexandria. There was 
some disappointment that we did not enter that evening, but we 
were an hour or so late, and so we swung at anchor and found 
what consolation we could in the enrapturing glory of an Egyptian 
night. In the morning, when the sun arose, we picked our way 
into the harbor, and when we came on deck we found ourselves 
at anchor, with Alexandria before us — her minarets looking 




(497) 



498 AROUND THE WORLD. 

almost gay in the fresh light of the morning sun. A boat came 
out about eight, bringing General C. P. Stone, Mr. Farman, our 
Consul-General, Mr. Salvago, our Consul in Alexandria, and 
Judge Morgan, of the International Tribunal. General Stone 
came with kind messages from the Khedive and the hope we 
might be able to come to Cairo. But this was not possible, as 
we had to connect with our English steamer at Suez, and Suez 
was a long day's journey. So all that was left was that we should 
pull ashore as rapidly as possible and drive to the train. The 
Consul-General, with prudent foresight, had arranged that the 
train should wait for the General, and thus it came that our ride 
through Egypt, from Alexandria to Suez, was during the day, and 
not, as otherwise would have happened, during the long and 
weary night. 

"Pleasant it was to see Egypt again, although we only saw it 
through the windows of a hurrying train. Pleasant, too, it was 
to land in quiet, unostentatious fashion, without pomp and cere- 
mony and pachas in waiting and troops in line, the blare of 
trumpets and the thunder of guns. The escape from a salute and 
a reception was a great comfort to the General, who seemed to 
enjoy having no one's hands to shake, to enjoy a snug corner in 
an ordinary railway car, talking with General Stone and Mr. 
Borie and the Consul-General. The train waited a half hour for 
us, and would have been detained longer but for the energy and 
genius shown by Hassan — our old friend Hassan, who accom- 
panied us on the Nile. Hassan came down to meet the General 
in his full consular uniform, and when he found that a train was 
waiting, and that we were behind, he took command at once. 
There was not an idle Arab on the quays who was not pressed 
into the service by Hassan, and shortly after we reached our 
station our bags and bundles came after us in a kind of proces- 
sion — a hurried, scrambling procession. Hassan, in high words, 
stick in hand, calling out — let us hope — words of sympathy and 
encouragement. Hassan, as the official guard of the Legation, 
wearing a sword, is an authority in Egypt, and I am afraid he 
used his authority to the utmost in having our traps and parcels 
carried from the wharf to the train. Our ride to Suez was with- 



india. 499 

out incident, and Egypt as seen from the car windows was the 
same Egypt about which so much has been written. The fields 
were green. The air was clear and generous. The train people 
were civil. When Arabs gathered at our doors to call for 
backsheesh in the name of the prophet, Hassan made himself, 
not without noise and effect, a beneficent influence. The Gen-, 
eral chatted with Stone about school times at West Point, about 
friends, about the new days — and one fears the evil days — that 
have fallen upon his Highness the Khedive. Mr. Borie made 
various attempts to see the Pyramids from the cars, and talked 
over excursions that some of us had made, and we came near 
remaining in Cairo for another steamer to enable him to visit the 
Pyramids and the Sphinx, and the Serapeum at Memphis, where 
were buried the sacred bull. But we are late for India, and Mr. 
Borie would not consent to the sacrifice of time on the General's 
part, and so we keep on to Suez. 

" The sun is down, and the lingering shadows of an Egyptian 
sunset light up the desert and the Red Sea with a variety of 
tints, and the sky is a dome of glowing light — so intense and 
clear and vast that it affects you like music — as we come into 
Suez. There are our friends, the dusky boys and Arabs in 
muslin, and a tall Arab with a turban, carrying a lantern, who 
leads the way to a hotel. The dogs are out in chorus, and 
Hassan, having conscripted all the Arabs in sight and made 
them burden-bearers, puts them in march and gives us his com- 
pany. We enter Suez walking in the middle of a sandy lane, 
Hassan, with a stick, in the advance, loudly making his authority 
known to all, Mrs. Grant and General Stone, and the rest of us 
bring up the rear. As the road is through sand and is rather a 
long one Mr. Borie casts reflections upon a civilization which, 
although boasting of the Sphinx and the Pyramids, does not have 
hotel omnibuses and coaches like Philadelphia. I mention to my 
honored friend that this was the place where Moses crossed the 
Red Sea and Pharaoh was drowned, and that from our hotel you 
could see the well where the Israelites halted while Miriam sang 
her song of triumph and joy. But my honored friend does not 
see why that should keep a people from having comfortable 



500 AROUND THE WORLD. 

coaches, and not make visitors tramp and tramp through 
narrow, sandy lanes. I do not attempt to parry my friend's 
criticism. I have my own opinions of a civilization which, 
although it built Karnak, has no omnibuses, and it is not pleasant 
to tramp and drag through the sand, not exactly sure where you 
are going. In time, however, we came to our hotel — to welcome 
and supper. 

" The hotel of Suez was, I am told, formerly a harem of one of 
the Egyptian princes. You can sit on your balcony and look out 
on the Red Sea — on the narrow line of water which has changed 
the commerce of the world, and which is the Suez Canal. Suez 
is a small, clean town — clean from an Oriental standard. We 
drove around it next morning on donkeys, and went through the 
bazaars. We drove into the suburbs and saw a Bedouin camp, 
and, having driven all over the town in half an hour, and having 
nothing- else to do, we drove all over it two or three times. The 
boat which was to carry us to India had not arrived. She was 
blocked in the canal. We might have to remain all night and 
the next day. Everybody begins to regret that we had not gone 
to Cairo and come to Suez on the morrow. But about five in 
the afternoon the masts of the Peninsular and Oriental steamer 
' Venetia ' began to loom up above the sands. Everything was 
hurried on the tender. As the sun went down we went on board 
the steamer, Mr. Farman and General Stone remaining until the 
last moment to say farewell. About eight in the evening of Jan- 
uary 31st, the last farewell is spoken, we feel the throbbing of 
the vessel beneath us, and know that at last we are off for India. 

"Adjusting one's self to life at sea, among the odds and ends 
of mankind that you meet on the steamer in strange far lands, is 
a good deal like dealing a hand at whist. How will the cards 
turn out ? Will they run well or ill ? I generally ask myself 
that question the first day at sea, as I look down the table and 
try to read the faces of those who are to be companions for days 
and weeks, companions in the closest relation. How will the 
cards run ? That imposing person who talks in a strident key, that 
glaring lady who recites her high acquaintances, shall we find 
them kings and queens when we come to need their true value., or 






INDIA. 50I 

will they be useless cards ii? a short suit that it will be a comfort 
to throw away ? We are the only Americans of the company 
sailing- on the good ship ' Venetia,' and we form a colony of our 
own. We have pre-empted a small claim just behind the wheel, 
in the stern of the vessel. There is a grating about six feet 
square a foot above the deck. Here you can lounge and look 
out at the tumbling waves that come leaping after, or look into 
the deep ultramarine and learn what the waves have to say. 
Here, if you come at any hour of the day, and at a good many 
hours of the night, you will find the members of our expedition. 
Mrs. Grant sits back in a sea chair, wearing a wide brimmed 
Indian hat, swathed in a blue silk veil. There is the sun to 
fight, and our ladies make themselves veiled prophetesses and 
shrink from his presence. The General has fallen into Indian 
ways enough to wear a helmet, which shields the face. The 
helmet is girded with a white silk scarf, which falls over the neck. 
We all have helmets, which we bought in Suez, but only wear 
them as fancy seizes us. Mr. Borie has one which cost him eight 
shillings, an imposing affair, but no persuasion has as yet induced 
him to put it on. Dr. Keating wears his so constantly that an 
impression is abroad that he sleeps in it. This, I fear, arises 
from envy of the Doctor, who takes care of himself and comes 
out of his cabin every morning neat enough to stroll down 
Chestnut street, and not, like the rest of us, abandoned to 
flannel shirts and old clothes and frayed cuffs and cracked, shiny 
shoes. 

"As I was saying, if you came on board the good ship ' Venetia' 
you would find the expedition encamped on the rear grating. 
What do we do with ourselves ? Kill time. I cannot see that 
we do anything else. I am writing this in the morning, for 
instance, and as I write six bells are struck. Well, six bells mean 
that it is just eleven o'clock. All the passengers are on deck 
walking, reading, chatting, knitting, nursing children — killing 
time ! The ship goes on in a lazy, lounging motion. Mrs. 
Grant looks out of her cloud of blue silk. She has brought up 
the interesting, never-failing question of mails. That is the theme 
which never dies, for you see there are boys at home, and if only 



502 AROUND THE WORLD. 

boys knew the interest felt in their writings, what an addition it 
would be to our postal revenues. Colonel Grant, curled up in a 
corner, is deep in ' Vanity Fair.' The Colonel is assuming a fine 
bronzed mahogany tint, and it is suggested that he will soon be 
as brown as Sitting Bull. You see it is the all-conquering sun 
who is having his will upon us. I am afraid the General's com- 
plexion failed him years ago, in the war days, and I do not see 
that the sun can touch him further. But the rest of us beg-in to 
look like meerschaum in various degrees of hue. What shall we 
be when we reach India ? 

" Well, the mail question sinks and the talk drifts one way and 
another. Did you ever observe how talk drifts when people are 
killing time ? I am sitting on the deck, twisted up, with the edge 
of the grating for a table. I have tried to write in all parts of 
the ship — my stateroom, the cabin, various corners of the deck. 
I could have managed in the stateroom but for the fact that on 
the deck overhead was a barn-yard of animals — sheep, ducks, 
chickens, turkeys, awaiting the inevitable doom. Whenever the 
bell strikes or the ship lurches there is a barn-yard chorus which 
is not conducive to literary composition. So, after all, the edge 
of the grating is the best place, for the sea is around me and the 
skies are above, and when I weary of writing I can do my share 
in the idle chatting and help kill time. Mr. Borie is just a little 
homesick. A few minutes ago he asked me, seeing a pen in my 
hand, to write him down ' donkey ' for seeking at his time of life 
to go around the world. But Mr. Borie, although the oldest, is 
in some respects the youngest of the party, and wagers have 
been offered that he will shoot the first tiger. Between Mr. 
Borie and the General there exists a friendship that is beautiful 
to see in a world where friendship is not always what it should 
be. 'I feel homesick for Mr. Borie,' the General said in Paris 
the other day, when it was uncertain whether our friend had ar- 
rived or not. I am quite sure that no influence could have in- 
duced Mr. Borie to venture around the world but his desire to 
be with General Grant. Sea life agrees with him. He has been 
talking about his hundred days in the Navy Department, as 
Secretary of the Navy. I am sorry to say that he speaks of 



INDIA. 503 

that high place as a hole. The General has been teasing the 
ex-Secretary about the difficulty he found in making him resign, 
and remarks that he made a good many democrats in his time 
by forcing republicans to resign, but that somehow Mr. Borie had 
not become a democrat. I will not repeat the emphasis with 
which the ex-Secretary received the suggestion that, under any 
circumstances, he could be a democrat. And so the talk ripples 
on — killing time. 

" The beardless members of the expedition have resolved not 
to trouble their beards until we reach home. He who touches 
razor is to pay the others a penalty. This is one of the ways 
in which people at sea kill time. The Doctor looks as if he re- 
grets the compact, for the truth is that the beardless ones begin 
to look like hair brushes in various processes of manafacture, 
and there are several young ladies on board, and a handsome 
young man like the Doctor would rather not have to depend 
upon his eyes alone in making his way into the deck society. 
We try to read. I came on board laden with information — cyclo- 
paedias, almanacs, guide-books, old numbers of New York news- 
papers. I had laid out for myself a plan of study between Suez 
and Aden, between Aden and Bombay. I meant, for instance, to 
tell the readers of the Herald all about India, about tigers and 
maharajahs and rupees and pagodas. Somehow one always 
makes resolutions of this serious kind when beginning long 
journeys. I am ashamed to say all my useful books are down 
in my cabin. I looked at them this morning as I was dressing 
in a ruminatory mood, and thought of readers at home hungering 
about India, and resolved to begin and cram myself with knowl- 
edge. But I looked out the open window and there was the sea, 
flushed with feathery tufts of waves ; a fresh, cool breeze coming 
from the shores of Arabia — so cool, so green, so winsome that I 
could not deny its solicitings, and when breakfast was over I came to 
our American encampment and coddled myself around this wooden 
grating, not to write useful facts about India, but to kill time. 

"The shining line of sand and the mountain range upon which 
Mr. Borie was gazing when his thoughts wandered back to Dar- 
lington butter and old Philadelphia, is called Sinai — so some one 



504 AROUND THE WORLD. 

tells us — and how suddenly the whole scene assumes a new 
color, and lights up with a sacred beauty, as all our childhood 
memories of the mount where God appeared to Moses flash over 
it. The captain tells us, in a quiet, business-like, matter-of-course 
tone, that the mountain to the right, the lesser of the peaks, is 
Sinai. All glasses are directed toward the memorable summit. 
It was here that the Lord gave the Ten Commandments. ' And 
all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the 
noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking ; and when the 
people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.' What we see 
is an irregular, jagged peak, the outlines dimmed by the long 
distance from the seashore. The wilderness upon which the 
people of Israel encamped, and through which they wandered, 
seems, as far as we can see it through our glasses, to be a wide, 
barren, sandy plain — a fragment of the desert which has been 
appearing and reappearing ever since we left Alexandria. 

" While we keep our encampment on the grating in the stern 
and have our life circling from hour to hour in easy, idle fashion, 
there is another world about us with which we slowly establish 
relations. The companions of our voyage are mainly English, 
bound for India. The other morning there was a muster, and 
the ship's company fell into line. Hindoos, Mussulmans, Chinese, 
Egyptians, Nubians — it seemed as if all the nations of the Ori- 
ental world had been put under contribution in order that the 
good ship ' Venetia ' should make her way from Suez to Bom- 
bay. The ' Venetia ' is commanded by Englishmen and served 
by Orientals. To those unaccustomed to the Oriental it is 
strange at first to see these quaint forms floating around you. 
They have as a general thing clear, well-cut faces, thin, lithe 
limbs, and move about like cats. We have no type in America 
that resembles the Hindoo. They have not the strength or vigor 
of our Indians, but have kinder faces and a higher intelligence. 
They have more character than the African types, and I can well 
understand the development of the race to a high point of civili- 
zation. They seem to be good servants, doing their work with 
celerity and silence. A group will move around the deck, sweep- 
ing, swabbing, hauling ropes, or what not, all silent and all busy. 



INDIA. 505 

A party of laborers in our country would chatter and chirp and 
sing, and find some means of throwing life and harmony into 
their labors. The Indians are like so many machines. At night 
they cuddle up in all corners, and as you pass between decks you 
step over blanketed forms. They have the simplest raiment — 
blue cotton gowns for work, white cotton gowns for ceremony. 
I saw them in their gala dress on inspection, and the trim, well-cut 
forms in flowing white gowns, with brown bare feet, scarlet and 
yellow turbans, scarlet and blue handkerchiefs around the waist, 
were picturesque and odd, and, on first glimpses, of Indian color. 
The good ship ' Venetia,' on which we are sailing, is one of the 
Peninsular and Oriental line — a famous line — which connects 
England with her Asiatic possessions. The ' Venetia ' is a clean,, 
bright ship, built to fight the sun. The builders were thinking 
of the sea and the air. Our Atlantic vessels are meant for 
stormy seas, are strong and clumsy compared with these light, 
graceful vessels of the tropics. These staterooms are pierced 
with crannies, as many as will let in the air and keep out the sea.. 
The decorations are in wood, varnished and oiled woods. The 
cabin is high, and over the dining table swing long fans or pun- 
kahs, which are kept in motion when we are at table. The table 
is good, with a predominance of curry and poultry. At nine we 
have breakfast, at one o'clock luncheon. We dine at six, and if 
we care to have tea it will be given at eight. The food is good 
and the wines fair. But what impresses you about the ship is 
the discipline. I have seen nothing so perfect since I left our 
man-of-war ' Vandalia,' and you feel so admirable in discipline^ 
as if your ship was in the hands of a strong, brave man, and 
that you could fight and conquer any wind or any sea. 

" Life on board these tropical ships is a constant seeking for 
comfort. Every hour we go to the south. Yesterday at noon — 
yesterday being Monday, February 3, 1879 — we were in latitude 
1 9 50', longitude 38 45'. At noon to-day our position was 
latitude ii° 11', longitude 41 ° 09'. To-morrow we hope to see 
Aden. Aden is at the mouth of the Red Sea. Every hour we 
move into a warmer atmosphere, and killing time becomes really 
a contest with the sun. The General looks at the tropical pros- 



506 AROUND THE WORLD. 

pect with composure, and tells of his own experience in the 
regions of the equator, when with a company of infantry he 
found himself in Panama in July and the cholera came among 
his people. The rest of us are planning what to do when the 
weather becomes really warm. My own private opinion is that 
the Hindoos have solved the problem, and that if we only could 
array ourselves in loose cotton robes and go about in bare feet 
it would be comfort. Our English friends blossom out in various 
tints of gray and white, and the deck assumes the aspect of a 
June yachting party on Long Island Sound. But the English- 
man is a comfort-seeking animal. Our cabins are as good as 
can be, and all over the ship there are contrivances for bringing 
air, fans for moving the air, space and cleanliness. In the matter 
of cleanliness nothing could be better than the ' Venetia.' Twenty- 
three hours out of the twenty-four seem devoted to scrubbing, 
and from bow to stern she is as bright and clean as a model 
housewife's dairy. I observed that one of the passengers who 
had been in India and knew the ways of the Red Sea had his 
bed carried up on deck and slept under the stars. The example 
seemed a good one, and the second night of our voyage my bed 
was made on the skylight. I preferred camping on our grating, 
but one of the officers told me that if I slept on the grating the 
moon would shine in my face with appalling results ; that in India 
to sleep with the moon shining in one's face was a fearful thing. 
This question of what the moon would do became an interesting 
theme. The lady of the American encampment quite confirmed 
the evil reports about the moon. The General recalled the 
many, many nights when, with no pillow but the base of a tree 
and no covering but the universe, he slept under a full and beam- 
ing moon. However, I move myself under the awning and sleep. 
It would be much better than the cabin but for the scrubbing, the 
heaving the lead, and the constant movement around you. If I 
open my eyes I am sure to find a purring, creeping Indian with 
a broom or a brush cleaning something. But in time you become 
used to this, and you sleep with soft breezes from Arabia blow- 
ing upon you, and if you awake from your dreams around you 
is the sea and above you the heavens in all their glory. 



INDIA. 507 

"We are most of us night birds — with the exception of Mr 
Borie, whose hour is the morning. We sat up last night very 
late, and even then there was a supplementary hour in our cabins, 
the General being on the theme of our medical service during the 
war, and we listened as he told of the modest heroism of the medi- 
cal staff. And when midnight struck, and I came on the deck to 
find my cot on the skylight, it seemed impossible to sleep. About 
me were fellow-passengers sleeping, some on benches, some on 
the orating, some on the deck. Above us was the glowing 
night. I don't know what life would be without its midnights. 
I suppose it is the habit which you acquire in early newspaper 
service, when you labor at midnight that the world may have the 
news at sunrise ; but midnight in a great city, in London, in New 
York, in Paris, has always been a useful hour. Here is midnight 
on the Red Sea. One should go to bed, but how can you resist 
the temptation to lounge back in a corner and have an hour with 
yourself— with yourself and immensity? To-night we are to see 
the Southern Cross. You lounge in your corner and study the 
sky and the sea and the scene around you, and watch the smoke 
of your cigar circle around the planets — that constellation, for 
instance, that cluster of stars which used to shine upon your 
childish, wondering eyes. I suppose people at home are looking 
at it and thinking if the light that falls upon them also falls upon 
those who wander and sail on far seas. The officer walks the 
bridge, watching the sky and sea. The bell strikes and a voice 
calls 'All's well,' and voices answer 'All's well,' and you feel that 
brave men watch over you as they drive this huge machine 
through the willing waves. Every few moments a guard slides 
along seeing that all's well, giving you a cheerful good-evening 
as he passes, wondering perhaps why you have not gone to bed 
with better folks ; wondering what should keep any one awake 
who could go to bed. The sailors come and throw the log. You 
watch the dripping rope that comes in and make a mental wager 
with yourself as to the ship's pace. ' Twelve knots,' I say to my- 
self. ' Eleven and a half, sir.' The sails are up, for we are sav- 
ing every breeze that will help us along to Aden. Well, you 
draw your shawl over you and crawl upon the skylight. Before 



508 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the sun rises you are awakened. The decks must be cleaned. 
Your servant comes and tells you that your bath is ready. The 
bathing arrangements are perfect. After the bath you come on 
the deck and find the early birds of the voyage hopping around 
in bare feet and the faintest raiment. For this hour the ship is 
given over to passengers walking around in bare feet, trying to 
kill time. Your servant comes again with a pint of coffee, and 
you sip it in a kind of sheeted, ghostly company — friends coming 
from the bath and going to the bath. At nine breakfast and 
women come on the scene, and our friends reappear in cool 
white linen garments to get through the day — the hot and weary 
day — to kill time. 

" There were lazy head winds in the Red Sea which kept the 
' Venetia ' lagging on her way. We should have reached Aden 
on the 5th of February, and many plans were arranged for ex- 
cursions. But when the sun went down the report was that we 
should reach Aden and be on our way into the Indian Ocean 
almost before it rose again. Aden juts into the mouth of the Red 
Sea, commanding the entrance. It was taken by the British in 
1838, as a part of the English policy of dotting the world with 
guns and garrisons. 

"Aden is a rock, thrown up in volcanic times, in area five 
square miles, with a population of 22,000. There is a garrison, 
and the forts are manned with heavy guns. The government is 
martial law, tempered with bribery. The British pay the native 
chiefs annual tribute money to behave themselves. Aden is a 
sort of gateway to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, and the 
regulations of the British Government in reference to commerce 
are stringent and would scarcely be tolerated on the coasts of a 
stronger Power than Arabia. Every vessel carrying more than 
a certain number of passengers must stop at Aden. The nomi- 
nal reason is to obtain a clean bill of health. The real reason is 
that it enables the government to keep a close scrutiny upon all 
that is doing in the Indian waters. It also adds to the revenues 
of Aden, for every vessel that stops sends money on shore, and 
thus the fort, while securing a most important position, while 
commanding the Red Sea and making it almost a British lake, 



INDIA. 509 

supports itself. I have observed, in studying the growth of the 
British Empire, that the self-supporting principle is always en- 
couraged. The British give good government and make the 
governed ones pay the bills, with a little over for home revenues 
when possible. About three in the morning of February 6th the 
engines stopped, and we knew by the unearthly noises attending 
the taking in of coal that we were at Aden. The iron pipe for 
conveying the coal ran through the cabin of Colonel Grant and 
myself, and the noise made sleep impossible. I went on deck and 
found Mr. Borie ready to go on shore as soon as the sun rose. 
None of the others had appeared, and but for the noise we might 
as well have remained in our berths; for there was a rolline, 
splashing, uncomfortable sea, and all we could see of the shore 
were the moving lights of sentinel posts and the shadow of the 
hill. Those of us who had improved our time on the journey, 
and had written letters, sent them on shore, and not without a 
feeling of sentiment at seeing them go, for it seemed a farewell 
to our own world, that we were leaving Europe and America and 
passing into the opening door of Indian civilization. As the 
morning came over the sea and the darkness turned into gray 
the passengers came on deck, the General appearing about sun- 
rise. The proposal to go ashore was vetoed on account of the 
sea, the early hour and the fact that we were to sail at eight. 
The inhabitants of the island were hospitable and came out to see 
us, paddling little cigar-shaped, feather-like canoes, which danced 
about on the waves. There were several races among them, and 
the quaint blending of character and costume interested us, es- 
pecially as it was our first glimpse of the strange contrasts and 
developments of the Indian world. 

"At Aden we. touched on our world long enough to hear of the 
resignation of Marshal MacMahon and the chano-e in the French 
Republic. It was just a touch of news, but it gave us a theme 
for talk, and when you have a week of sea-life before you any 
theme is a welcome one. On the morning of February 6th, 
about eight, the last Somali swimmer was tossed over the side of 
the vessel into the water; the last pedler in feathers was hustled 
down the gangway; the Parsees took a sad leave of their friend, 



5IO AROUND THE WORLD. 

who looked a dismal farewell, the engines moved and we turned 
our course toward India. It was an hour or two before we lost 
sight of Aden, and all the afternoon there were bits of the Ara- 
bian coast coming and going on the horizon. To our north was 
Arabia, and our course was northeast. If you look at the map 
you will see that the journey from Suez to Bombay is like going 
down one side of a triangle and up the other side. Aden is 
about the twelfth of a parallel north, and Bombay about the 
eighteenth, consequently in passing Aden we touched the south- 
ernmost station of our Indian trip. We had been told to expect 
something severe in the way of weather at Aden ; that we would 
bake, or burn, or broil in the Indian Ocean; that it would be so 
warm that the vessel would have to reverse her engines and go 
backward to make a current of air. All of these prophecies 
failed. Our whole journey from Aden to Bombay was over a 
calm sea, the ship as a general thing scarcely rolling. We spent 
most of our time on deck in conversation with our English 
friends, with whom we became closely acquainted, and among 
whom we found high intelligence and courtesy. It was a good 
opportunity of studying the character of the men whom England 
sends out to rule India. They seemed to have something of the 
American. There was less of the reserve of the insular quality 
which marks the Englishman generally; more of our American 
shrewdness and energy and knowledge of the world. 

"At noon, on February 12th, our position was latitude 18 
05' north, longitude 69 22' east. We were scudding along 
at eleven knots an hour, and in the morning would see 
Bombay. The sea became a dead calm, and the morning 
brought with it a purple haze, which flushed the horizon, and it 
was after a time and by shading the eyes from the sun that we 
could manage to trace the line of the hills and knew that this was 
the coast of India. Our departure from Europe had been so sud- 
den that we had no idea that even our Consul at Bombay knew 
of our coming. All arrangements were made to go to a hotel, 
and from thence make our journey; but the 'Venetia' had 
scarcely entered the harbor before we saw evidences that the 
General was expected. Ships in the harbor were dressed with 



tkU, 




(5«) 



512 AROUND THE WORLD. 

flags, and at the wharf was a large crowd — soldiers, natives, 
Europeans. As we passed the English flagship a boat came 
alongside with an officer representing Admiral Corbett, welcom- 
ing the General to India. In a few minutes came another boat 
bearing Captain Frith, the military aid to Sir Richard Temple, 
Governor of the Presidency of Bombay. Captain Frith bore a 
letter from the Governor welcoming the General to Bombay and 
offering him the use of the Government House at Malabar 
Point. Captain Frith expressed the regret of Sir Richard that he 
could not be in Bombay to meet General Grant, but duties con- 
nected with the Afghan war kept him in Sind. The Consul, Mr. 
Farnham, also came with a delegation of American residents and 
welcomed the General and party. 

"At nine o'clock in the morning the last farewells were spoken, 
we took our leave of the many kind and pleasant friends we had 
made on the ' Venetia,' and went on board the government 
yacht. Our landing was at the Apollo Bunder — the spot where 
the Prince of Wales landed. The tides in the harbor are high, 
and there were stone steps over which the sea had been washing. 
As we drew near the shore there was an immense crowd lining 
the wharf and a company of Bombay volunteers in line. As the 
General ascended the steps he was met by Brigadier-General 
Aitcheson, commanding the forces; Sir Francis Souter, Commis- 
sioner of Police; Mr. Grant, the Municipal Commissioner, and 
Colonel Sexton, commanding the Bombay volunteers, all of whom 
gave him a hearty welcome to India. The volunteers presented 
arms, the band played our national air, and the General, amid 
loud cheers from the Europeans present, walked slowly with un- 
covered head to the state carriage. Accompanied by Captain 
Frith, who represented the Governor, and attended by an escort 
of native cavalry, the General and party made off to Malabar 
Point. 

"Our home in Bombay is at the Government House, on Mala- 
bar Point, in the suburbs of the city. Malabar Point was in other 
days a holy place of the Hindoos. Here was a temple, and it 
was also believed that if those who sinned made a pilgrimage to 
the rocks there would be expiation or regeneration of soul. The 



INDIA. 513 

Portuguese who came to India were breakers of images, who be- 
lieved that the religion of Christ was best served by the destruc- 
tion of the pagan temples. Among the temples which were 
subjected to their pious zeal was one on Malabar Point. There 
are only the ruins remaining, and masses of rock, bearing curious 
inscriptions, lie on the hillside. Malabar Point is an edge of the 
island of Bombay jutting out into the Indian Ocean. Where the 
bluff overlooks the waters it is one hundred feet high. This 
remnant of the rock has been rescued from the sea and storm, 
and decorated with trees and shrubbery, the mango and the palm. 
Overlooking the sea is a battery with five large guns, shining and 
black, looking out upon the ocean and keeping watch over the 
Empire of England. It is difficult to describe a residence like 
Government House on Malabar Point. Architecture is simply a 
battle with the sun. The house is a group of houses. As you 
drive in the grounds through stone gates that remind you of the 
porter's lodges at some stately English mansions, you pass 
through an avenue of mango trees, past beds of flowers throwing 
out their delicate fragrance on the warm morning air. You come 
to a one-storied house surrounded with spacious verandas. 
There is a wide state entrance covered with red cloth. A guard 
is at the foot, a native guard wearing the English scarlet, on his 
shoulders the number indicating the regiment. You pass up the 
stairs, a line of servants on either side. The servants are all 
Mohammedans; they wear long scarlet gowns, with white tur- 
bans; on the breast is a belt with an imperial crown for an 
escutcheon. They salute you with the grave, submissive grace 
of the East, touching the forehead and bending low the head, in 
token of welcome and duty. You enter a hall and pass between 
two rooms — large, high, decorated in blue and white, and look 
out upon the gardens below, the sea beyond and the towers of 
Bombay. One of these rooms, is the state dining-room, large 
enough to dine fifty people. The other is the state drawing- 
room. This house is only used for ceremonies, for meals and 
receptions. 

" You pass for one hundred paces under a covered way over a 

a path made of cement and stone, through flower beds and palm 

33 



514 AROUND THE WORLD. 

trees, and come to another house. Here are the principal bed- 
rooms and private chambers. This also is one story high and 
runs down to the sea, so that you can stand on a balcony and 
throw a biscuit into the white surf as it combs the shore. These 
are the apartments assigned to General Grant and his wife. 
There are drawing-rooms, ante-rooms, chambers, the walls high, 
the floors covered with rugs and cool matting. As you pass in, 
servants, who are sitting crouched around on the floors, rise up 
and bend the head. You note a little group of shoes at the door, 
and learn that in the East custom requires those in service to un- 
slipper themselves before entering the house of a master. An- 
other hundred paces and you come to another house, with wide 
verandas, somewhat larger than the General's. These are the 
guest-chambers, and here a part of our party reside. Still fur- 
ther on is another house, and here the writer finds a home, and 
as he sits at the table writing these lines he looks out of the open 
door, shaded by a palm tree, and sees the white surf as it breaks 
over the rocks, and hears its drowsy, moaning, unending roar. 

" I look out of the window and see a tall flagstaff with a stone 
base. From this staff the flag- of England floats when the Gov- 
ernor is home. My house is a series of rooms arched over with 
high walls. The chamber in which I write is a comfortable work- 
ing room, with many windows and easy chairs. The room ad- 
joining is a bedchamber. Other rooms complete the suite, and 
from my chamber window I can look out on the sea, on the em- 
brasured guns, and watch the coming and going of the tides. 
You note that the builders of this house had only one idea — to 
fight the sun. It is now the coolest winter weather, remarkably 
cool for Bombay. Every window and every door is open, and 
even my summer garments are warm, and when weary with the 
heat I throw down the pen and walk out under the palm trees, 
and look at the surf and woo the breezes that come over the seas 
irom Persia, and throw myself upon the lounge and dip into one 
of the books piled about — books about Indian history, religion, 
caste — which I have found in the library and in which I am trying 
to know something of this ancient and wonderful land. 
» " So far as beauty is concerned — beauty of an Indian character 



INDIA. 5 I 5 

with as much comfort as is possible in Hindostan — nothing could 
be more attractive than our home on Malabar Point. We are 
the guests of the Governor, and the honors of his house are done 
by Captain Frith and Captain Radcliffe, of the army, two accom- 
plished young officers, the last representatives of the last type of 
the English soldier and gentleman. We take our meals in the 
state dining-room, and when dinner is over we stroll over to the 
General's bungalow and sit with him on the veranda looking out 
on the sea — sit late into the night, talking about India, and home, 
and all the strange phases of this civilization. Mrs. Grant seems 
to enjoy every moment of the visit, more especially as we are to 
have a week's mail on Wednesday, and the steamer never breaks 
its word. Mr. Borie is in fine spirits and health, all things con- 
sidered, and has surprised us in the virtue of early rising. All 
manner of plans are proposed to induce Mr. Borie to throw lus- 
tre upon the expedition by destroying a tiger and carrying home 
a trophy of his prowess to Philadelphia, but he steadily declines 
these importunities, taking the high-minded ground that he has 
never had a misunderstanding - with a tiger in his life, and does 
not propose now to cultivate the resentments of the race. 

"The attentions paid to the General and his party by the peo- 
ple of Bombay have been so marked and continuous that most of 
our time has been taken up in receiving and acknowledging them. 
What most interests us, coming fresh from Europe, is the entire 
novelty of the scene, the way of living, the strange manners and 
customs. 

" Life in India, however, as far as I can see it, is simply life at 
Government House on Malabar Point. What you note in the 
arrangement of a house like this is the number of servants neces- 
sary to its order. There is a minute division of labor and a pro- 
fusion of laborers. When I began this paragraph it was my 
intention to say how many servants waited on me for instance in 
my own modest bungalow. But the calculation is beyond me. 
At my door there is always one in waiting, a comely, olive-tinted 
fellow, with a melting dark eye. If I move across the room he 
follows with noiseless step to anticipate my wishes. If I sit down 
to read or write, I am conscious of a presence as of a shadow. 



51 6 AROUND THE WORLD. 

and I look up and see him at my shoulder or looking in at the 
window awaiting a summons. If I look out of my bedchamber 
window toward the ocean I see below another native in a blue 
gown with a yellow turban. He wears a badge with a number. 
He is a policeman and guards the rear of the bungalow. If I 
venture across the road to look in upon some of my friends, a 
servant comes out of the shade of the tree with an umbrella. 
His duty is to keep off the sun. You cannot pass from house 
to house without a procession forming around you. 

" The General strolled over a few mitutes aeo with some 
letters for the post, and as I saw him coming it was a small pro- 
cession — a scarlet servant running ahead to announce him, other 
scarlet servants in train. If you go out at night toward the Gov- 
ernment House for dinner, one in scarlet stands up from under 
a tree with a lantern and pilots you over a road as clearly marked 
as your own door sill. In the early morning, as you float from 
the land of dreams into the land of deeds, your first conscious- 
ness is of a presence leaning over your couch, with coffee or 
fruit or some intimation of morning. If you go driving, servants 
in scarlet cluster about your carriage, and in the General's case 
there is always a guard of native horsemen. If you could talk 
with your natives you might gain some curious information. But 
they know no English, and your only method is pantomime. 
This constant attention, curious at first, becomes, especially to 
eager Americans taught to help themselves in most of the offices 
of life, oppressive. But there is no help for it. I went into Mr. 
Borie's room last evening, and found him quite disconsolate 
over a native who was creeping around him, tearing his buttons 
and trying to put him in order. Mr. Borie in every key and 
intonation was trying to tell the native that he did not want him, 
that he could manage his buttons unaided. I tried to help him 
out, but my knowledge of the dialect was scarcely comprehensive 
enough to help a friend in an emergency. There was no resource 
but to bow to fate. In the evening, thanks to the offices of Cap- 
tain Frith, Mr. Borie added to his knowledge of tongues the 
Hindostan phrase for ' let me alone.' Since then there has been 
comparative peace in ' Tiger Hall.' 



INDIA. 517 

"'Tiger Hall' is the name we have given to Mr. Borie's 
bungalow. You see that forty years ago this Malabar Point was 
a jungle, and sportsmen came here and shot tigers among these 
very rocks, where we stroll about in the cool of the evening, 
smoking our cigars and looking down upon the tumbling surf. 

" My own bungalow is called Cobra Castle. I cannot imagine 
what gruesome fancy led to that name. I am afraid it was the 
Colonel, fertile in epithet. After the tiger, the cobra is the com- 
mon enemy of man in India. The cobra is a snake, from whose 
bite no human being has ever recovered. The government has 
taken steps to extinguish the cobra. It has offered a large 
reward to any one who will discover a remedy for the bite. The 
fact that my bungalow is apart by itself near the sea, overlooking 
the rocks, and open to any invasion, led to its being called Cobra 
Castle. But I am bound to say that I have seen no animal 
within its wall but a harmless lizard, about six inches long, which 
curled itself under one of the arches and clung there in a torpid 
condition. 

"We live in sumptuous fashion. There is the ever-present 
sea, the shading trees, the walks, the perfume of the flowers 
scenting the air — the beautiful bay, which reminds you of Naples. 
In the early morning and the evening you are permitted to go 
out and ride or stroll. When the sun is up you must remain 
indoors. We have had our own experiences of the sun at home, 
and you cannot understand the terror which he inspires in India. 
An hour or two ago the Colonel came into my bungalow, and as 
he passed to his own I strolled with him, perhaps a hundred 
paces, without putting on my helmet. One of our friends of the 
staff, who happened to be at the door, admonished me in the 
gravest manner of the danger that I had incurred. ' I would not,' 
he said, ' have done that for a thousand rupees. You have no idea 
how treacherous the sun is here. Even when the breeze is blow- 
ing you must not even for an instant allow your head to be 
uncovered. The consequences may attend you through life.' 
This morning the General went out on horseback for a spin 
through the country, accompanied by Sir Francis Souter, Captain 
Frith and Colonel Grant. Seven was the hour named — 'because,' 



518 AROUND THE WORLD. 

said Sir Francis, ' we must be home before nine. In India we 
dare not trifle with the sun.' 

"The mail leaves this afternoon for England, and I find that I 
have much to say about Bombay and the General's stay. On 
Friday evening he visited the ball of the Volunteer Corps, and 
was received by Colonel Sexton. The ball-room was profusely 
decorated with flags — the American flag predominating. On 
Saturday, at two, he visited Dossabhoy Merwanjee, a Parsee 
merchant. The reception was most cordial, the ladies of the 
family decorating the General and party with wreaths of jessa- 
mine flowers. In the afternoon he drove to the Byculla Club, 
lunched, and looked at the races. In the evening there was a 
state dinner at the Government House, with forty-eight guests. 
The government band played during dinner. The member of 
Council, Hon. James Gibbs, who represents the Governor, was 
in the chair. At the close of the dinner he proposed the health 
of the General, who arose, amid loud cheering, and said that he 
was now carrying out a wish he had long entertained of visiting 
India and the countries of the ancient world. His reception in 
Bombay had been most gratifying. The cordiality of the people, 
the princely hospitality of the Governor, the kindness of the 
members of the household, all combined to make him feel the 
sincerity of the welcome. It was only a continuance of the 
friendliness he had met in Europe, and which was especially 
grateful to him because it indicated a friendly feeling toward his 
own country. In this spirit he accepted it, for he knew of nothing 
that would go further toward insuring peace to all nations, and 
with peace the blessings of civilization, than a perfect under- 
standing between Englishmen and Americans, the great English- 
speaking nations of the world. The General said he hoped he 
might see his hosts in America. He would be most happy to 
meet them and return the hospitality he had received. He was 
sorry he could not see Sir Richard Temple, the Governor of 
Bombay, of whom he had heard a great deal and whom he was 
anxious to meet. But he would ask them to join with him in 
drinking the health of the Governor. This sentiment was drunk 
with all the honors. The dinner was finely served, and after 



INDIA. 5 I 9 

dinner the General and guests strolled about on the veranda, 
smoking or chatting, looking out on the calm and murmuring 
ocean that rolled at their feet and the lights of the city beyond. 
There was a luncheon with Sir Michael R. Westropp, Chief-Jus- 
tice of Bombay. Sunday was spent quietly at home. This after- 
noon the General visits a Parsee female school, interesting as an 
evidence of the efforts of the Parsees to introduce education 
among their females. Mrs. Grant will visit the missions. At 
four the General will go on board the 'Euryalus,' the flagship of 
the British Indian squadron, to visit Admiral Corbett. On his 
return he goes to the university. In the evening there is another 
state dinner at the Government House, to meet the high officials 
of the Bombay government. After the dinner the leading native 
merchants and citizens will attend a levee. 

" Life in Bombay grew to be almost home-life under the genial 
hospitality of our hosts on Malabar Point. Although we had 
been a week in Bombay, there was so much of Europe about us 
that we could not make up our minds that we were in India. 
We had not seen a tiger or a cobra, and all our associations 
were with Europeans. There was a club where you could read 
the English newspapers and The New York Herald. There was 
a racing club, where you could sit at your window and see the 
horses gallop over the course. There were two or three English 
newspapers published in Bombay, two in English — the Gazette 
and The Times in India — well printed and well written. It is 
wonderful how speedily you go through a paper that has no roots 
in your own country, and how even as sad an article as a minute 
on the famine has no interest to you. Bombay is more European 
than Indian, and I suppose will always be so while the sea throws 
the commerce of the world upon her wharves. 

"There was a visit to the English man-of-war 'Euryalus,' the 
flagship of the English squadron in India. Admiral Corbett 
received the General, and, on his leaving the vessel, fired twenty- 
one guns. There was a visit to the Elephanta Caves, one of the 
sights in India. We left the wharf and steamed across the bay 
in a small launch belonging to the government. The afternoon 
was beautiful, the islands in the bay breaking up the horizon into 



520 AROUND THE WORLD. 

various forms of beauty that reminded you of Italy and the islands 
of the Mediterranean. Elephanta Caves belong to Hindoo the- 
ology. Here in the rocks the Brahmins built their temples, and 
now, on holy days, the people come and worship their gods 
according to the ritual of their ancestors. What the temple 
might have been in its best days you cannot imagine from the 
ruins. After seeing the stupendous remnants of ancient monu- 
ments in Egypt, Karnak, and Abydos, and Memphis, you cannot 
enter into the enthusiasm with which rocks like these at Elephanta 
are regarded. In Egypt you see that religion was the supreme 
expression of the people's life, and there is nothing else in her 
monuments. The same might be said of India, perhaps, but the 
men who dug out the Elephanta Caves, and fashioned the rocks 
into temples and the forms of gods, had not the earnest spirit of 
those who built the mighty monuments whose ruins strew the 
banks of the Nile. 

"Our visit to Elephanta was a kind of picnic. Everything we 
have seen in India thus far has a Prince of Wales value, if I may 
use the expression. You are taken to see things because the 
Prince of Wales saw them on his tour. It is remembered that 
the Prince came to the caves and dined in the halls consecrated 
in the Hindoo eyes to sacred memories. There were illumina- 
tions and fireworks, and the night was so warm that no one en- 
joyed the dinner. We have a cooling breeze coming in from the In- 
dian Ocean, and, as we slowly climb easy flights of steps, we have 
an almost naked retinue of Hindoos, in various stages of squalor, 
asking alms and offering to sell us gold beetles. The temples 
are reached in time, and we stroll about studying out the figures, 
noting the columns and the curious architecture, full, rude, 
massive, unlike any forms of architectural art familiar to us. 
The main temple is 125 feet long and the same in width. The 
idols are hewn out of the rock. The faces of some are comely, 
and there is a European expression in the features that startles 
you. The type is a higher one than those we saw in Egypt. 
One of the idols is supposed to be the Hindoo Trinity — Brahma, 
Vishnu, and Siva. There is matter for thought in the fact that 
the idea of the trinity, of the holiest of holy mysteries, was some- 



INDIA. 521 

how grasped by these pagan worlds long before our blessed Lord 
came among men. There is a figure of a woman with a single 
breast — the wife of Siva — and you note in these pagan faiths that 
woman, who holds so sad a place in their domestic economy, was 
worshipped as fervently as some of us worship the Virgin. It is 
the tribute which even the heathen pays, as if by instinct, to the 
supreme blessing of maternity. But, when the Portuguese came 
with the sword and the cross, little mercy was shown to the homes 
of the pagan gods. It is believed that these temples were cut 
out of the rocks in the tenth century, and that for 800 years 
these stony emblems, which we finger and poke with canes, were 
worshipped. General Grant observes that his memories of Kar- 
nak make it difficult for him to appreciate the caves at their true 
value. So we saunter about and look out on the waters and 
watch the descending sun throw its purple golden shadows over 
Bombay. The night is falling as our launch pushes into the bay. 
In this land there is no twilight, and a few minutes after the sun 
goes down darkness reigns ; darkness over everything, only the 
lights of the distant town and the stars looking down from a 
cloudless sky. 

" There were visits to be made, and Monday was a busy day. 
Letters were written. Mail day does not come as often in India 
as at home, and throughout the dominion it is a day dedicated to 
home. I am afraid we caught the infection, for Sunday was given 
to zealous correspondence, and the steamer that went out on 
Monday caused an addition to her Majesty's postal revenues. 
There was a visit to the school of a Parsee gentleman, whose 
hobby is education. 

" On Monday the General was entertained in state at the Gov- 
ernment House at Malabar Point. Hon. James Gibbs, the member 
of the Council who acted as Governor in the absence of Sir 
Richard Temple, presided, and at the close of the dinner the 
company drank the health of the General. In response the 
General referred to the kindness he had received in India, 
which was only renewing the kindness shown him all over Eu- 
rope, and which he accepted as an evidence of the good will 
which really existed between Englishmen and Americans, and 



522 AROUND THE WORLD. 

which was to his mind the best assurance of peace for all nations. 
After the dinner the General received a large number of the na- 
tive merchants and gentlemen of Bombay. It seemed odd to our 
American eyes that merchants and gentlemen should be asked 
to come in at the end of a feast and not to take part. But this 
exclusion is their own wish. Many of these merchants and 
gentlemen belong to castes who look on the food of the Eu- 
ropeans as unclean, who believe in the sacredness of life, 
and will not eat animal food, and who could not sit at the table 
with the General without losing caste. These men will meet 
you in business, will serve you in various ways, but their religion 
prevents their sharing your table. So the invitation to the 
natives to meet the General was fixed at an hour when dinner 
was over. 

" They came in groups — Hindoos, Arabs, Parsees, native 
officers — in uniforms, in quaint flowing costumes. The Gen- 
eral stood at the head of the hallway, with Mr. Gibbs and 
Major Rivett-Carnac, the Governor's military secretary. As 
each native advanced he was presented to the General with 
some word of history or compliment from Mr. Gibbs. ' This 
is So-and-So, an eminent Brahmin scholar, who stands high 
among our Barristers;' or, 'This is So-and-So, a Parsee mer- 
chant, who has done a great deal of good to Bombay, and has 
been knighted for his services by the Queen ;' or, ' This is the old- 
est Arab merchant;' or, 'This is a gallant officer in our native 
cavalry ; ' or, ' This is the leading diamond merchant in Bombay, 
a Hindoo gentleman, one of the richest in India.' As each of 
them advanced it was with folded hands, as in prayer, or saluting 
by touching the breast and brow in the submissive, graceful, 
bending way, so strange to our eyes. Here were men of many 
races — the Parsee from Persia, the Arab from Cairo, whose an- 
cestors may have ridden with Omar; the Brahmin of a holy caste, 
in whose veins runs the stainless blood of Indian nobility, de- 
scendant of men who were priests and rulers ages before Eng- 
land had risen from her clouds of barbarism. Between these 
races there is no love. If they do not like England they hate 
one another. Religious differences, tradition, memories of war 



INDIA. 523 

and conquest, the unaccountable antipathies of race which we 
have not eliminated from our civilization — all generate a fierce 
animosity which would break into flames once the restraining 
hand were lifted. What welds them together is the power of 
England, and as you look at the picturesque group — their heads, 
full eyes, their fine Asiatic type of face, clear and well cut — here 
assembled peacefully, you see the extent of the empire to which 
they all owe allegiance, and you admire the genius and courage 
which has brought them to submit to a rule which, whatever it 
may have been in the past, grows more and more beneficent 

" This dinner at Malabar Point closed our visit to Bombay. 
After the reception of the native gentlemen and merchants the 
General strolled over to his bungalow, and, sitting on the veranda 
looking out upon the ocean, he conversed for a long time with 
Mr. Gibbs, Major Carnac, Mr. Borie and the gentlemen of 
the household. It was our last night in Bombay, and so many 
things were to be talked about, the English in India and the 
strange romance of their governing India. It is in conversations 
such as these where you meet gifted men, charged with great 
trusts, full of their work, and familiar with it, that travel has its 
advantages, and especially to one in the position of General 
Grant. Himself a commander of men and ruler of a nation, it 
is instructive to compare notes with men like those he meets in 
India, who are charged with the rule of an empire. The interest- 
ing fact in India as a political question is this. Here the English- 
man is solving the problem of how to govern an ancient and vast 
civilization, or, rather, varieties of civilization, to govern it by 
prestige and the sword. In America the Englishman is trying 
to create a new nation, based on a democracy. The two problems 
are full of interest, and, fresh from English-speaking America, 
we see something new every hour in English-governed India. 
The governments are as far apart as the Poles, for there is no 
despotism more absolute than the government of India. Mighty, 
irresponsible, cruel, but with justice, and after safety mercy. This 
is what you see in India. 

" On Tuesday, February 18th, 1879, we left Bombay. The day 
was very warm — oppressively warm. We had an idea of what 



524 AROUND THE WORLD. 

might be felt in an Indian summer. The General drove into 
town and made some farewell calls. At five he left Government 
House in a state carriage, accompanied by Major Carnac, who 
represented Governor Temple, and escorted by a squadron of 
cavalry. On arriving at the station there was a guard of honor 
of native infantry drawn up, which presented arms and lowered 
colors. All the leading men of the Bombay Government — Par- 
see and native merchants ; our Consul, Mr. Farnham, whose 
kindness to us was untiring; Mr. Gibbs, and all the members of 
the government household — were present. Among those who 
came to say good-by was Colonel H. S. Olcott, of New York. 
Colonel Olcott had just arrived in India, where he proposes to 
study Indian philosophy. He was accompanied by some Brah- 
mins of high caste, whom he presented to the General. In a 
few minutes the signal for leaving was made, and the General 
thanking his good friends of Malabar Point, the train pushed off 
amid cheers and the salutes of the military." 

On the 20th the party arrived at Tatulpur, and visited the 
Marble Rocks, after which the journey was resumed to Allahabad, 
where a short stay was made. On the 2 2d of February General 
Grant left Allahabad for Agra, where he arrived the next day. 

" Our stay in Agra was short," says Mr. Young, in his letter to 
The Nezv York Herald, " but it would have been impossible to 
have left India without seeing the Taj. This building is said to 
be the most beautiful in the world. As we came into Agra in 
the early morning the familiar lines of the Taj — familiar from 
study of pictures and photographs — loomed up in the morning 
air. You have a view of the buildings for some time before enter- 
ing the city. The first view was not impressive, and as we looked 
at the towers of the Taj and the white marble walls that reflected 
the rays of the rising sun, it seemed to be a beautiful building as 
a temple, and no more. Perhaps the long night ride may have 
had something to do with our indifference to art, for the ride had 
been severe and distressing, and it was pleasant to find any 
shelter and repose. The General and Mrs. Grant went to the 
house of Mr. Laurence, the nephew of Lord Laurence, and a 
member of one of the ruling families of India. The remainder 



INDIA. 525 

of the party found quarters in a hotel, the only one, I believe, in 
the place, a straggling, barn-like building, or series of buildings, 
over which an American flag was flying. Indian hotel life is not 
the best way of seeing India, as most travellers, in passing through 
the country, are entertained in private houses, bungalows of the 
officials, mess quarters of the officers, or missionary stations. 
The Agra Hotel seemed to have been built for the millennium, 
when all shall be good and crime unknown. There were no 
gates or windows, no doors — all was open. The rooms all ran 
into one another, and the boarders seemed to live on a principle 
of association. I never knew who was the landlord, never saw 
a servant in authority. Everybody seemed to keep the hotel, 
and when you wanted anything you simply went and took it. 
Mr. Borie was accommodated with an apartment on the ground 
floor, the others quartered above him. 

"Agra contains only one monument, the Taj, and the remains 
of a beautiful palace, now used as a fort. When the descendants 
of the great house of Tamerlane overran India, Agra was among 
the cities which they captured. It was in the seventeenth century 
one of the wealthy cities of India, a rendezvous for Indian and 
Persian merchants. Akbar, who reigned in the sixteenth cen- 
tury, and was among the greatest of the Moguls, gave Agra its 
grandeur. He built his palace, which is now the fort. What it 
must have been in the time of the Emperor we may imagine 
from what we see at Jeypore, where the Maharajah still reigns 
and lives in Oriental splendor. No modern palace can give you 
an idea of what these royal residences must have been in their 
day. Royal life now is not what it was under the great kings. 
A Mogul kept about him thousands of retainers. I was told in 
Jeypore that there were 10,000 within the enclosures of the palace. 
A palace was a fort, a barracks, a home for the sovereign, his 
harem, his ministers and his nobility. You can understand then 
why the palace of Akbar should have occupied a site of nearly 
four square miles. But the mere size of the Agra palace will 
give you no conception of its splendor. Many changes have 
taken place since Akbar' s time. The mutiny led the English to 
sweep away certain sections for strategic reasons. As a monu- 



5 2 6 AROUND THE WORLD. 

ment of Moslem architecture the palace is one of the best 
specimens and reminds you of the Alhambra, although in a better 
condition and with marks of a barbaric splendor which do not 
belong to the Alhambra and which are the effect of Indian 
taste blended with Saracenic art. It was in this palace that the 
families of the British residents took refuge during the mutiny 
of 1857. 

" It was late in the afternoon when we went to the Taj. The 
ride is a short one, over a good road, and we had for an escort 
Judge Keene, of Agra, who has made the art, the history and 
the legends of the Mohammedan domination in India a study, 
and to whose excellent history of the Taj I am indebted for all 
my useful facts. It happened to be Sunday, and as we drove 
along the road there seemed to be a Sunday air about the 
crowds that drifted backward and forward from the gardens. 
On our arrival at the gate the General and party were received 
by the custodians of the building, and as we walked down the 
stone steps and under the overarching shade trees we had grown 
to be quite a procession. 

"The principle which inspires these magnificent and useless 
tombs is of Tartar origin. The Tartars, we are told, built their 
tombs in such a manner as to ' serve for places of enjoyment for 
themselves and their friends during - their lifetime.' While the 
builder lives he uses the building as a house of recreation, re- 
ceives his friends, gives entertainments. When he dies he is 
buried within the walls, and from that hour the building is aban- 
doned. It is ever afterward a tomb, given alone to the dead. 
There is something Egyptian in this idea of a house of feasting 
becoming a tomb; of a great prince, as he walks amid the crowds 
of retainers and friends, knowing that the walls that resound with 
laughter will look down on his dust. This will account for so 
many of the stupendous tombs that you find in Upper India. 
Happily, it does not account for the Taj. If the Taj had been a 
Tartar idea — a house of merriment to the builder and of sorrow 
afterward — it would have lost something of the poetry which 
adds to its beauty. The Taj is the expression of the grief of the 
Emperor Shah Jehan for his wife, who was known in her day as 



INDIA. 



527 



Mumtaz-i-Mabal, or the Exalted One of the Palace. She was 
herself of royal blood, with Persian ancestry intermingled. She 
was married in 161 5 to Shah Jehan, then heir to the throne, and, 
having borne him seven children, died in 1629 in giving birth to 
the eighth child. Her life, therefore, was in the highest sense 
consecrated, for she gave it up in the fulfilment of a supreme and 
holy duty, in itself a consecration of womanhood. The husband 
brought the body of the wife and mother to these gardens and 
entombed it until the monument of his grief should be done. It 
was seventeen years before the work was finished. The cost is 
unknown, the best authorities rating it at more than two millions 
of dollars. Two millions of dollars in the time of Shah Jehan, 
with labor for the asking, would be worth as much as twenty 
millions in our day. For seventeen years 20,000 men worked on 
the Taj, and their wages was a daily portion of corn. 

" The effect of the Taj as seen from the gate, looking down the 
avenue of trees, is grand. The dome and towers seem to rest 
in the air, and it would not surprise you if they became clouds 
and vanished into rain. The gardens are the perfection of 
horticulture, and you see here, as in no part of India that I have 
visited, the wealth and beauty of nature in Hindostan. The 
landscape seems to be flushed with roses, with all varieties of the 
rose, and that most sunny and queenly of flowers seems to strew 
your path and bid you welcome as you saunter down the avenues 
and up the ascending slope that leads to the shrine of a husband's 
love and a mother's consecration. There is a row of fountains 
which throw out a spray and cool the air, and when you pass the 
trees and come to the door of the building its greatness comes 
upon you — its greatness and its beauty. Mr. Keene took us to 
various parts of the garden, that we might see it from different 
points of view. I could see no value in one view beyond the 
other. And when our friend, in the spirit of courteous kindness, 
pointed out the defects of the building — that it was too much 
this, or too much that, or would have been perfect if it had been 
a little less of something else — there was just the least disposi- 
tion to resent criticism and to echo the opinion of Mr. Borie, 
who, as he stood looking at the exquisite towers and solemn 



528 AROUND THE WORLD. 

marble walls, said ' It was worth coming to India to see the Taj.' 
I value that criticism because it is that of a practical business 
man, concerned with affairs, and not disposed to see a poetic 
side to any subject. What he saw in the Taj was the idea that 
its founder meant to convey — the idea of solemn, overpowering 
and unapproachable beauty. 

"As you enter you see a vast dome, every inch of which is en- 
riched with inscriptions in Arabic, verses from the Koran, engraved 
marble, mosaics, decorations in agate and jasper. In the centre 
are two small tombs of white marble, modestly carved. These 
cover the resting-place of the Emperor and his wife, whose bodies 
are in the vault underneath. In other days the Turkish priests 
read the Koran from the gallery, and you can imagine how sol- 
emn must have been the effect of the words chanted in a priestly 
cadence by the echo that answers and again answers the chant- 
ing of some tune by one of the party. The more closely you 
examine the Taj, the more you are perplexed to decide whether 
its beauty is to be found in the general effect of the design as 
seen from afar, or the minute and finished decorations which 
cover every wall. The general idea of the building is never lost. 
There is nothing trivial about the Taj, no grotesque Gothic 
moulding or flowering Corinthian columns — all is cold and white 
and chaste and pure. You may form an idea of the size of the 
Taj from the figures of the measurement of the royal engineers. 
From the base to the top of the centre dome is 1 39 T / 2 feet ; to the 
summit of the pinnacle, 243^ feet. It stands on the banks of the 
river Jumna, and it is said that Shah Jehan intended to build a 
counterpart in black marble in which his own ashes should rest. 
But misfortunes came to Shah Jehan — ungrateful children, strife, 
deposition — and when he died his son felt that the Taj was large 
enough for both father and mother. One is almost glad that the 
black marble idea never germinated. The Taj, by itself alone, is 
unapproachable. A duplicate would have detracted from its 
peerless beauty. 

" We remained in the gardens until the sun went down, and we 
had to hurry to our carriages not to be caught in the swiftly de- 
scending night. The gardener came to Mrs. Grant with an 



INDIA. 529 

offering of roses. Some of us, on our return from Jeypore, took 
advantage of the new moon to make another visit. We had been 
told that the moonlight gave a new glory even to the Taj. It was 
the night before we left Agra, and we could not resist the temp- 
tation, even at the risk of keeping some friends waiting who had 
asked us to dinner, of a moonlight view. It was a new moon, 
which made our view imperfect. But such a view as was given 
added to the beauty of the Taj. The cold lines of the marble 
were softened by the shimmering silver light. The minarets 
seemed to have a new height, and the dome had a solemnity as 
became the canopy of the mother and queen. We strolled back, 
now and then turning for another last view of the wonderful 
tomb. The birds were singing, the air was heavy with the odors 
of the rose garden, and the stillness, the twilight stillness, all 
added to the beauty of the mausoleum and combined to make 
the memory of our visit the most striking among the many 
wondrous things we have seen in Hindostan. 

"Our further stay in Agra was made pleasant by a dinner at 
the Agra Club, a roomy building in an enclosure of trees and 
grass. This dinner was complimentary to Grant in the presence 
of Rana Nehal Singh, the Maharajah of Dholpur, who presided. 
This young prince is in the sixteenth year of his age. He is a 
Jat by descent; the Jats, supposed to be a tribe of Scythians 
driven through China and over the mountains to find a home in 
Rajputana. The Maharajah governs a small province, 1,600 
square miles in extent, with a population of 500,000 and a reve- 
nue from the province of $4,500,000 annually. The Maharajah 
has been under the tutelage of the British Government, his guar- 
dian being Lieutenant-Colonel Denneby. The Maharajah wore 
a picturesque Hindoo costume and jewels of immense value. He 
sat next to Mrs. Grant, with whom he had a long conversation. 
The Prince speaks English fluently, and, having been under 
English influence from his infancy, it is believed will be a loyal 
prince. The experience of the English in the education of 
princes and Indians of high caste has not always been satisfac- 
tory. After they marry and pass out of the control of their 
guardians they remember much of their English education that 
34 



530 AROUND THE WORLD. 

might as well be forgotten, and forget much that might be re- 
membered. I suppose blood is stronger than the school books, 
and many an Englishman has reminded me with bitterness that 
before the mutiny no Indian prince was more frequently in 
English society and more popular with officers and residents than 
the Nana Sahib, who butchered women and children in Cawn- 
pore. I do not recall this to throw the least imputation upon the 
Maharajah or connect his name in any way with the saddest 
memory in Indian history. The Maharajah is a young man, with 
a pleasing countenance and manly, frank manners, and seemed to 
be fond of the old Colonel who was in charge of him. At the 
close of the dinner the Prince arose, and the health of the Queen 
was proposed. Then came a toast to General Grant, proposed 
by Judge Keene, and a response from the General, the substance 
of which has gone to you by telegraph and need not be repeated. 
At the close of the dinner a company of native players gathered 
on the veranda and told stories in the Indian dialect, and gave little 
mimic charades or comedies, the actors being puppets, a kind of 
Hindoo Punch and Judy show. The subjects illustrated were inci- 
dents of the mutiny and scenes in the life of a tax-gatherer. There 
was a good deal of skill and some humor shown in the manage- 
ment of the puppets, and altogether it was an odd experience. 
The dinner over we took our leave of our friends, whose kind- 
ness had been unbounded, and next morning proceeded to the 
north, to Delhi, the city of the Mogul kings, and Lucknow, the 
city of the rulers of Oude — cities famous in the ancient history 
of India for their wealth and splendor, and even more famous now 
with a dreary and tragic renown as the centres of the mutiny of 

185/." 

From Agra General Grant and his party went to Jeypore, to 
visit the Maharajah of that place, one of the wealthiest and most 
powerful of the native princes of India. 

"We left Agra about noon," says Mr. Young, in his letter to 
T/ie New York Herald, " the day being warm and oppressive. 
Our ride was through a low, uninteresting country, broken by 
ranges of hills. The railway is narrow gauge, and, as I learned 
from one of the managers who accompanied us, has proved a 




(53i, 



532 AROUND THE WORLD. 

success, and strengthens the arguments in favor of the narrow 
gauge system. It was night before we reached Jeypore. On ar- 
riving at the station the Maharajah was present with his Minis- 
ters, and the English Resident, Dr. Hendley, who acted in place 
of Colonel Beynon. As the General descended, the Maharajah, 
who wore the ribbon and star of the Order of India, advanced 
and shook hands, welcoming him to his dominions. The Maha- 
rajah is a small, rather fragile person, with a serious, almost a 
painful, expression of countenance, but an intelligent, keen face. 
He looked like a man of sixty. His movements were slow, im- 
passive — the movements of old age. This may be a mannerism, 
however, for on studying his face you could see that there is 
some youth in it. On his brow were the crimson emblems of his 
caste — the warrior caste of Rajpootana. His Highness does not 
speak English, although he understands it, and our talk was 
through an interpreter. After the exchange of courtesies and a 
few moments' conversation the General drove off to the English 
residency, accompanied by a company of Jeypore cavalry. The 
residency is some distance from the station. It is a fine, large 
mansion, surrounded by a park and garden. 

" It was arranged that we should visit Amber, the ancient capi- 
tal of Jeypore, one. of the most curious sights in India. Amber 
was the capital until the close of the seventeenth century. It was 
among the freaks of the princes who once reigned in India that 
when they tired of a capital or a palace they wandered off and 
built a new one, leaving the other to run to waste. The ruins of 
India are as a general thing the abandoned palaces and temples 
of kings who grew weary of their toy and craved another. This 
is why Amber is now an abandoned town and Jeypore the capi- 
tal. If the Maharajah were to tire of Jeypore and return to 
Amber, the town would accompany him, for without the Court the 
town would die. Travelling in India must be done early in the 
morning, and although we had had a severe day's journey, we 
left for Amber at seven in the morning. A squadron of the 
Maharajah's cavalry accompanied us. They are fine horsemen 
and wear quilted uniforms of printed cotton. In India one way 
of keeping cool is to quilt yourself with cotton. On my observ- 



india. 535 

ing that soldiers under an Indian sun, swathed in quilted cotton, 
must be very uncomfortable, I was told that the Indian found 
heavy apparel an advantage, and Englishmen when hunting wore 
sporting dresses on the same principle. Our drive through Jey- 
pore was interesting from the fact that we were now in a native 
city, under native rule. Heretofore the India we had seen was 
India under Englishmen; but Jeypore is sovereign with power of 
life and death over his own subjects. The city is purely Oriental, 
and is most picturesque and striking. There are two or three 
broad streets, and one or two squares that would do no discredit 
to Paris. The architecture is Oriental, and, as all the houses are 
painted after the same pattern in rose color, it gives you the im- 
pression that it is all the same building. The streets had been 
cleaned and swept for our coming, and men, carrying goatskins 
of water, were sprinkling it. Soldiers were stationed at various 
points to salute, and sometimes the salute was accompanied with 
a musical baneino- on various instruments of the national air. 
The best that India can do for a distinguished American is ' God 
save the Queen.' 

" We note as we drive through Jeypore that there are gas 
lamps. This is a tremendous advance in civilization. One of 
the first things we heard in India was that in Jeypore lived a great 
prince, a most enlightened prince, quite English in his ideas, who 
had gas lamps in his streets. Wherever we stopped this was 
told us, until we began to think of the Maharajah not as a prince 
descended from the gods, but a ruler who had gas lamps in his 
streets. We are told also that he has a theatre almost ready. 
There is a troupe of Parsee players in town, who have come all 
the way from Bombay and are waiting to open it. The Maha- 
rajah was sorry that he could not show the General a play, but 
his theatre was not finished. What strikes us vividly is not the 
gas in the streets or the theatre, but the Indian aspect. It is all 
so new and strange that the gas lamps seem to be out of place. 
These long streets of rose-colored houses, with turrets and 
verandas and latticed windows, that look so warm and pictur- 
esque and glowing — this is what your fancy told you might be 
seen in India. The bazaars, in which dealers are crouching, the 



534 AROUND THE WORLD. 

holy men and ascetics covered with ashes, the maidens with green 
and scarlet drapery, carrying huge water-pitchers on their heads, 
the beggars, the brown, naked children rolling- on the earth, the 
calico-covered soldiers, and the odd costumes, the marks of rank 
and caste — from the holy Brahmin, who belongs to a sacred race, 
down to the water-bearers and scavengers — all this is new and 
strange. An attendant leads a cheetah along the street, and you 
shudder for a moment at the idea of a wild menagerie animal 
being at large, but you learn that the cheetah is quite a harmless 
animal when tamed, and good for hunting. We come to the 
edge of the town, which suddenly ends, and are in a valley. The 
hills are covered with a brown furze, which looks as if it would 
crackle and break under the burning sun. The roads are lined 
with cactus, and the fields are divided by mud fences which would 
not last a week in our rainy regions. We pass gardens — walled 
gardens with minarets. Here the ladies of the Hindoo gentle- 
man's house may take their recreation, but their life is seclusion. 
The camels pass us carrying heavy burdens, and the trees are 
alive with monkeys. The monkey is a sacred animal, and no 
Hindoo would take its life. Monkeys skip over walls and sit on 
the trees and watch us as we pass. I do not know what would 
become of India with the monkey as a sacred protected animal, 
but for the leopard. In a short time he would swarm over the 
land. But the leopard and other wild beasts keep him down. 
Wild peacocks swarm and beautify the hard brown hills with 
their plumage. The peacock is also a sacred animal, and they 
were as plentiful on our road to Amber as sparrows on the road 
to Jerome Park. The hills are now and then crowned with 
castles, the strongholds of old chiefs who took to the cliff and the 
fastness for protection in the days when might made right in 
India, the days before the Englishman came and put his strong 
hand upon all these quarrelling races and commanded peace. 
We pass a lazy pool, in which alligators are lazily swimming, and 
on the banks are two or three wild pigs drinking the water. 
They are unconscious of the murderous eye of the Colonel, who 
has come to Jeypore to add to the laurels of his laurel-laden 
house those of a pig-sticker. The beating sun pours its rays 






INDIA. 535 

over you, and you shrink from it under the shade of your car- 
riage, and wonder how these lithe and brown Hindoos, who run 
at your carriage wheels, can fight the sun. There is no air, no 
motion ; and now, that we are out of Jeypore and away from the 
cool and freshened streets, all is parched and arid and dry. 

"To go to Amber we must ride elephants. For after a few 
miles the hills come and the roads are broken and carriages are 
of no value. We might go on horseback or on camels, but the 
Maharajah has sent us his elephants, and here they are waiting 
for us, under a grove of mango trees, drawn up on the side of the 
road as if to salute. The principal elephant wears a scarlet cloth 
as a special honor to the General. The elephant means author- 
ity in India, and when you wish to do your guest the highest 
honor you mount him on an elephant. The Maharajah also sent 
sedan chairs for those of us who preferred an easier and swifter 
■conveyance. Mrs. Grant chose the sedan chair, and was switched 
off at a rapid pace up the ascending road by four Hindoo bearers. 
The pace at which these chairs is carried is a short, measured 
quickstep, so that there is no uneasiness to the rider. The rest 
of us mounted the elephants. Elephant riding is a curious and 
not an unpleasant experience. The animal is under perfect con- 
trol, and very often, especially in the case of such a man as the 
ruler of Jeypore, has been for generations in the same family. 
The elephant is under the care of a driver, called a mahout. 
The mahout sits on the neck, or more properly the head, of the 
elephant, and guides him with a stick or sharp iron prong, with 
which he strikes the animal on the top of the head. Between 
the elephant and mahout there are relations of affection. The 
mahout lives with the elephant, gives him his food, and each 
animal has its own keeper. The huge creature becomes in time 
as docile as a kitten and will obey any order of the mahout. The 
elephant reaches a great age. The one assigned to me had been 
sixty years in the royal stables. It is not long since there died at 
Calcutta the elephant which carried Warren Hastings when Gov- 
ernor-General of India — a century ago. There are two methods 
of riding elephants. One is in a box like the four seats of a car- 
riage, the other on a square quilted seat, your feet hanging over 



536 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the sides, something like an Irish jaunting-car. The first plan is 
good for hunting, but for comfort the second is the better. When 
we came to our elephant the huge beast, at a signal from the 
mahout, slowly kneeled. Then a step-ladder was put against his 
side, and we mounted into our seats. Two of the party were 
assigned to an elephant, and we sat in lounging fashion, back to 
back. There was room enough on the spacious seat to lie down 
and take a nap. When the elephant rises, which he does two 
legs at a time, deliberately, you must hold on to the rail of your 
seat. Once on his feet he swings along at a slow, wobbling pace. 
The motion is an easy one, like that of a boat in a light sea. In 
time, if you go long distances, it becomes very tiresome. Appar- 
ently you are as free as in a carriage or a railway car. You can 
sit in any position or creep about from one side to the other. 
But the motion brings every part of the body into action, bend- 
ing and swinging it, and I could well see how a day's long jour- 
ney would make the body very weary and tired. 

" We left the plain, and ascended the hot, dusty hill to Amber. 
As we ascended the plain opened before us, and distance dead- 
ening the brown arid spaces only showed us the groves and 
walled gardens, and the greenness of the valley came upon us, 
came with joyousness and welcome, as a memory of home, for 
there is no green in India, and you long for a meadow or a roll- 
ing field of clover — long- with the sense of thirst. There was 
the valley, and beyond the towers of Jeypore, which seemed to 
shimmer and tremble in the sun. We passed over ruined paths, 
crumbling into fragments. We passed small temples, some of 
them ruined, some with offerings of grain or flowers or fruit, 
some with priests and people at worship. On the walls of some 
of the temples we saw the marks of the human hand as though 
it had been steeped in blood and pressed against the white wall. 
We were told that it was the custom when seeking from the 
gods some benison, to note the vow by putting the hand into a 
liquid and printing it on the wall. This was to remind the god 
of the vow and the prayer, and if it came in the shape of rain or 
food or health or children, the joyous devotee returned to the 
temple and made other offerings — money and fruits. We kept 



india. 537 

our way, slowly ascending, winding around the hill on whose 
crest was the Palace of Amber. Mrs. Grant, with her couriers, 
had gone ahead, and, as our procession of elephants turned up 
the last slope and passed under the arch, we saw the lady of our 
expedition high up at a lattice window waving her handkerchief. 
The courtyard was open and spacious, and entering, our elephants 
knelt and we came down. We reached the palace while worship 
was in progress at the temple. Dr. Hendley told us that we 
were in time to take part in the services and to see the priest 
offer up a kid. Every day in the year in this temple a kid is 
offered up as a propitiation for the sins of the Maharajah. The 
temple was little more than a room in the palace — a private 
chapel. At one end was a platform raised a few inches from the 
ground and covered over. On this platform were the images of 
the gods — of the special god — I think it is Shiva, whom his High- 
ness worships. On this point I will not speak with certainty, for 
in a mythology embracing several hundred millions of gods one 
is apt to become bewildered. Whatever the god the worship 
was in full progress, and there was the kid ready for sacrifice. 
We entered the inclosure and stood with our hats off. There 
were a half dozen worshippers crouching on the ground. One of 
the attendants held the kid while the priest sat crouching over 
it, reading from the sacred books, and in a half humming, half 
whining chant blessing the sacrifice, and as he said each prayer 
putting some grain or spice or oil on its head. The poor animal 
licked the crumbs as they fell about it, quite unconscious of its holy 
fate. Another attendant took a sword and held it before the 
priest. He read some prayers over the sword and consecrated 
it. Then the kid was carried to the corner, where there was a 
small heap of sand or ashes and a gutter to carry away the blood. 
The priest continued his prayers, the kid's head was suddenly 
drawn down and with one blow severed from the body. The 
virtue of the sacrifice consists in the head falling at the first blow, 
and so expert do the priests become that at some of the great 
sacrifices, where buffalo are offered up in expiation of the princely 
sins, they will take off the buffalo's head with one stroke of the 
sword. The kid having performed the office of expiation becomes 
useful for the priestly dinner. 



53§ AROUND THE WORLD. 

" Of the Palace of Amber the most one can say is that it is 
curious and interesting as the home of an Indian king in the days 
when India was ruled by her kings and a Hastings and a Clive 
had not come to rend and destroy. The Maharajah has not 
quite abandoned it. He comes sometimes to the great feasts of 
the faith, and a few apartments are kept for him. His rooms 
were ornamented with looking-glass decorations, with carved 
marble which the artisan had fashioned into tracery so delicate 
that it looked like lacework. What strikes you in this Oriental 
decoration is its tendency to light, bright, lacelike gossamer 
work, showing infinite pains and patience in the doing, but with- 
out any special value as a real work of art. The general effect 
of these decorations is agreeable, but all is done for effect. There 
is no such honest, serious work as you see in the Gothic cathe- 
drals, or even in the Alhambra. One is the expression of a 
facile, sprightly race, fond of the sunshine, delighting to repeat 
the caprice of nature in the curious and quaint; the other has a 
deep, earnest purpose. This is an imagination which sees its 
gods in every form — in stones and trees and beasts and creeping 
things, in the stars above, in the snake wriggling through the 
hedges — the other sees only one God, even the Lord God 
Jehovah, who made the heavens and the earth and will come to 
judge the world at the last day. As you wander through the 
courtyards and chambers of Amber the fancy is amused by the 
character of all that surrounds you. There is no luxury. All 
these kings wanted was air and sunshine. They slept on the 
floor. The chambers of their wives were little more than cells 
built in stone. Here are the walls that surrounded their section 
of the palace. There are no windows looking into the outer 
world, only a thick stone wall pierced with holes slanting upward, 
so that if a curious spouse looked out she would see nothing 
lower than the stars. Amber is an immense palace, and could 
quite accommodate a rajah with a court of a thousand attendants. 

" There were some beautiful views from the terrace, and we 
sat in the shade between the columns and looked into the valley 
beyond, over which the sun was streaming in midday splendor. 
We should like to have remained, but our elephants had been 




(539) 



54-0 AROUND THE WORLD. 

down to the water to lap themselves about and were now return- 
ing refreshened to bear us back to Jeypore. We had only given, 
ourselves a day for the town, and we had to return the call of 
the Prince, which is a serious task in Eastern etiquette. Mr. 
Borie was quite beaten down and used up by the sun and the 
wobbling, wearisome elephant ride, but we succeeded in persuad- 
ing him to make the descent in a chair as Mrs. Grant had done. 
There was something which did violence to Mr. Borie's repub- 
lican spirit in the idea of being carried about in a chair when 
there were elephants to ride, and it was only upon pressure that 
we managed to mount him in his chair. While Mr. Borie and. 
Mrs. Grant were off swinoqnof and lolline down the hill the rest 
of us took a short cut among the ruins, leaping from stone to 
stone, watching the ground carefully as we went, to see that we 
disturbed no coiled and sleeping cobra, until we came upon our 
huge and tawny brutes and were wobbled back to our carriages 
and in our carriages to town. 

"We saw the sights of Jeypore on our return. There was a 
school of arts and industry which interested the General very 
much, his special subjects of inquiry as he travels being the 
industrial customs and the resources of the country. He would 
go ten miles to see a new-fashioned plough or to avoid seeing a 
soldier or a orin. The school is one of the Prince's favorite 
schemes, and the scholars showed aptness in their work. The 
special work in which Jeypore excels is enamelled jewelry, and 
some of the specimens shown us were exceedingly beautiful and 
dear. We went to the Mint and saw the workmen beat the coin 
and stamp it. We went to the collection of tigers, and saw a. 
half-dozen brutes, each of whom had a history. Two or three 
were man-eaters. One enormous creature had killed twenty- 
five men before he was taken, and he lay in his cage quite 
comfortable and sleek. Another was in a high temper, and. 
roared and jumped and beat the bars of his cage. He, also, 
was a man-eater, and I am sure that his manifestations quite 
cured us of any ambition to go into the jungle — cured all but 
the Colonel, whose coming campaigns in the tiger country are 
themes of occasional conversation. On returning to the resi- 



INDIA. 54I 

dency we found a group of servants from the palace on the 
veranda, each carrying a tray laden with sweetmeats and nuts, 
oranges, and other fruits. This was an offering from the Prince, 
and it was necessary that the General should touch some of the 
fruit and taste it, and say how much he was indebted to his High- 
ness for the remembrance. Then the servants marched back to 
the palace. I don't think that any of us could have been induced 
to make a meal out of the royal viands, not for a considerable 
part of the kingdom ; but our servants were hanging around with 
hungry eyes, and, as soon as the General touched the fruit, they 
swarmed over the trays and bore away the offerings. The Doctor 
looked at the capture from a professional point of view, and saw 
that he would have work ahead. The sure consequence of a 
present of sweetmeats from the palace is that the residency 
servants are ill for two or three days. 

"The Maharajah sent word that he would receive General 
Grant at five. The Maharajah is a pious prince, a devotee, and 
almost an ascetic. He gives seven hours a day to devotions. 
He partakes only of one meal. When he is through with his 
prayers he plays billiards. He is the husband of ten wives. 
His tenth wife was married to him a few weeks ago. The court 
gossip is that he did not want another wife, that nine were enough, 
but, in polygamous countries, marriages are made to please fami- 
lies, to consolidate alliances, to win friendships, very often to give 
a home to the widows or sisters of friends. The Maharajah was 
under some duress of this kind, and his bride was brought home 
and is now with her sister brides behind the stone walls, killing 
time as she best can, while her lord prays and plays billiards. I 
asked one who knows something of Oriental ways what these 
poor women do whom destiny elevates to the couch of a king. 
They live in more than cloistered seclusion. They are guarded 
by eunuchs, and, even when ailing, cannot look in the face of the 
physician, but put their hands through a screen. I heard it said 
in Jeypore that no face of a Rajput princess was ever seen by a 
European. These prejudices are respected and protected by the 
imperial government, which respects and protects every custom 
in India so long as the states behave themselves and pay tribute. 



542 AROUND THE WORLD. 

In their seclusion the princesses adorn themselves, see the Nautch 
girls dance, and read romances. They are not much troubled by 
the Maharajah. That great prince, I hear, is tired of everything 
but his devotions and his billiards. He has no children, and is 
not supposed to have hopes of an heir. He will, as is the custom 
in these high families, adopt some prince of an auxiliary branch. 
If he fails to do so — and somehow childless rajahs generally fail, 
never believing in the inevitable, and putting off the act of adop- 
tion until it is too late — the British government will find one, just 
as they did in Baroda the other day, deposing one ruler and 
elevating a lad ten or eleven years of age, 'who now,' as I see 
in an official paper, 'is receiving his education under the super- 
vision of an English tutor.' The government of the kingdom is 
in the hands of a council, among whom are the Prime Minister 
and the principal Brahmin. 

"We drove to the palace at four o'clock, and were shown the 
royal stables. There were some fine horses and exhibitions of 
horsemanship which astonished even the General. We were 
shown the astronomical buildings of Jai Singh II., which were on 
a large scale and accurately graded. We climbed to the top of 
the palace and had a fine view of Jeypore. The palace itself 
embraces one-sixth of the city, and there are 10,000 people within 
its walls — beggars, soldiers, priests, politicians, all manner of 
human beings — who live on the royal bounty. The town looked 
picturesque and cool in the shadows of the descending sun. We 
looked at the quarters devoted to the household. All was dead. 
Every part of the palace swarmed with life, except this. Word 
had been sent to the household that profane eyes would soon be 
gazing from the towers, and the ladies went into seclusion. We 
strolled from building to building — reception-rooms, working- 
rooms, billiard-rooms, high-walled, far apart, with stone walls 
and gardens all around ; space, air, and sunshine. His Highness 
had arisen this morning earlier than usual, to have his prayers 
finished in time to meet the General. At five precisely we 
entered the courtyard leading to the reception hall. The Maha- 
rajah came slowly down the steps with a serious, preoccupied 
air, not as an old man, but as one who was too weary with a 



india. 543 

day's labors to make any effort, and shook hands with the Gen- 
eral and Mrs. Grant. He accompanied the General to a seat of 
honor and sat down at his side. We all ranged ourselves in the 
chairs. On the side of the General sat the members of his party; 
on the side of the Maharajah the members of his cabinet. Dr. 
Hendley acted as interpreter. The Prince said Jeypore was 
honored in seeing the face of the great American ruler, whose 
fame had reached Hindostan. The General said he had enjoyed 
his visit, that he was pleased and surprised with the prosperity 
of the people, and that he should have felt he had lost a great 
deal if he had come to India and not have seen Jeypore. The 
Maharajah expressed regret that the General made so short a 
stay. The General answered that he came to India late, and 
was rather pressed for time from the fact that he wished to see 
the Viceroy before he left Calcutta, and to that end had promised 
to be in Calcutta on March ioth. 

" His Highness then made a gesture, and a troop of dancing 
girls came into the courtyard. One of the features of a visit to 
Jeypore is what is called the Nautch. The Nautch is a sacred 
affair, danced by Hindoo girls of a low caste in the presence of 
the idols in the palace temple. A group of girls came trooping 
in, under the leadership of an old fellow with a long beard and 
hard expression of face, who might have been the original of 
Dicken's Fagin. The girls wore heavy garments embroidered, 
the skirts composed of many folds, covered with gold braid. 
They had ornaments on their heads and jewels in the side of the 
nose. They had plain faces, and carried out the theory of caste, 
if there be anything in such a theory, in the contrast between 
their features and the delicate, sharply-cut lines of the higher- 
class Brahmins and the other castes who surrounded the Prince. 
The girls formed in two lines, a third line was composed of four 
musicians, who performed a low, growling kind of music on un- 
earthly instruments. The dance had no value in it, either as an 
expression of harmony, grace, or motion. What it may have 
been as an act of devotion, according to the Hindoo faith, I could 
not judge. One of the girls would advance a step or two and 
then turn around. Another would go through the same. This 



544 AROUND THE WORLD. 

went down the double line, the instruments keeping up their con- 
stant din. I have a theory that music, like art, has a meaning 
that is one of the expressions of the character and aspirations of 
a people, and I am quite sure that an ingenious and quick-witted 
race like the Hindoos would not invent a ceremony and perform 
it in their temples without some purpose. The Nautch dance is 
meaningless. It is not even improper. It is attended by no ex- 
citement, no manifestations of religious feeling. A group of 
coarse, ill-formed women stood in the lines, walked and twisted 
about, breaking now and then into a chorus, which added to the 
din of the instruments. This was the famous Nautch dance, 
which we were to see in Jeypore with amazement, and to remem- 
ber as one of the sights of India. Either as an amusement or a 
religious ceremony it had no value. 

" The Maharajah and his Court looked on as gloomy as ravens, 
while the General wore that resigned expression — resignation 
tinted with despair — familiar to those of his Washington friends 
who had seen him listen to an address from the Women's Rights 
Association or receive a delegation of Sioux chiefs. But the 
scene was striking in many ways. Here was the courtyard of a 
palace, the walls traced in fanciful gossamer-like architecture. 
Here were walls and galleries crowded with court retainers, ser- 
vants, dependents, soldiers. Here was the falconer in attendance 
on the Prince, the falcon perched on his wrist — a fine, broad- 
chested, manly fellow, standing in attendance, just as I have seen 
in pictures representing feudal manners in early English days. 
Here was the Prime Minister, the head of the Jeypore govern- 
ment, a tall, lank, nobleman, in flowing embroidered robes, with 
keen, narrow features that I fancied had Hebrew lines in them. 
Somehow one looks for the Hebrew lines in governing faces. 
I heard some romantic stories of the rise of the Prime Minister ; 
how he had held humble functions and rose in time to sit behind 
the throne. They say he rules with vigor, is a terror to evil- 
doers, and has made a good deal of money. Prime Ministers 
depend upon the will or the whim of the Prince, and as the 
Prince may die, or may have some omen from the astrologers, or 
something may go wrong with the sacrifices — the kid's head not 



india. 545 

falling at the first stroke, or a like ominous incident — the tenure 
of power is like gambling. I suppose this noble lord, with the 
aigrette of pearls in his cap, who looks with his thin, uneasy face 
on the coarse, shambling Nautch girls, has his trouble in wielding 
power. He must keep his eye on the priests, the astrologers, 
the eunuchs, the spies, and above all, upon the British Resident, 
who lives in a shady garden on the outskirts of the town, and 
whose little finger is more powerful than all the princes of 
Raj pu tarn. 

" Next to the Prime Minister sits the Chief of the Brahmins, a 
most holy man, who wears a yellowish robe, his brow stamped 
with his sacred caste, so holy that he would regard the bread of 
his master unclean, a middle-aged, full-bodied, healthy priest, more 
European in feature than his associates. He eats opium, as many 
high and holy men do in India, and you see that his fingers twitch 
restlessly. He is the favorite Brahmin, and conscience-keeper 
of the Maharajah, receives large revenues from the temple, lives 
in a palace and is a member of the King's Council. The younger 
man, carrying a sword, with a square, full head, is a Bengalese 
scholar or pundit, the prince's private secretary, who speaks Eng- 
lish, and looks as if one day he might be Prime Minister. The 
Maharajah sits, as it were, soused back into his chair, his eyes 
covered with heavy silver-mounted spectacles, very tired and 
bored, looking at the Nautch girls as though they were a million of 
miles away. He has been praying all day, and has had no dinner. 
The scene is wholly Oriental — the color, the movement, the odd 
faces you see around you, and the light, trifling, fantastic archi- 
tecture which surrounds all. The shadows grow longer and 
longer, and Dr. Hendley, evidently thinking that the dance had 
served every useful purpose, said a word to the Prince, who made 
a sign. The dance stopped, the girls vanished, and we all went 
into the main drawing-room, and from thence to the billiard-room. 
The Maharajah, as I have said, plays billiards when he is not at 
prayers. He was anxious to have a game with the General. I am 
not enough of a billiard player to do justice to this game. I never 
can remember whether the red ball counts or not when you 
pocket it. The General played in an indiscriminate, promiscuous 

35 



546 AROUND THE WORLD. 

manner, and made some wonderful shots in the way of missing 
balls he intended to strike. Mr. Borie, whose interest in the 
General's fortunes extends to billiards, began to deplore those 
eccentric experiments, when the General said he had not played 
billiards for thirty years. The Maharajah tried to lose the game, 
and said to one of his attendants that he was anxious to show the 
General that delicate mark of hospitality. But I cannot imagine 
a more difficult task than for one in full practice at billiards to 
lose a game to General Grant. The game ended, His Highness 
winning by more points than I am willing print for the gratifica- 
tion of the General's enemies. 

" Then we strolled into the gardens and looked at the palace 
towers, which the Prince took pleasure in showing the General, 
and which looked airy and beautiful in the rosy shadows of the 
descending sun. There were beds of flowers and trees, and the 
coming night which comes so swiftly in these latitudes brought a 
cooling breeze. Then His Highness gave us each a photograph 
of his royal person consecrated with his royal autograph, which 
he wrote on the top of a marble railing. Then we strolled to- 
ward the grand hall of ceremony to take our leave. Taking 
leave is a solemn act in India. We entered the spacious hall 
where the Prince received the Prince of Wales. Night had come 
so rapidly that servants came in all directions, carrying candles 
and torches that lit up the gaudy and glittering hall. An atten- 
dant carried a tray bearing wreaths of the rose and jessamine. 
The Maharajah, taking two of these wreaths, put them on the 
neck of the General. He did the same to Mrs. Grant and all 
the members of the party. Then, taking a string of gold and 
silken cord, he placed that on Mrs. Grant as a special honor. 
The General, who was instructed by the English Resident, took 
four wreaths and put them on the neck of the Maharajah, who 
pressed his hands and bowed his thanks. Another servant came, 
bearing a small cup of gold and gems containing ottar of roses. 
The Maharajah, putting some of the perfume on his fingers, 
transferred it to Mrs. Grant's handkerchief. With another por- 
tion he passed his hands along the General's breast and shoul- 
ders. This was done to each of the party. The General then 



india. 547 

taking the perfume passed his hands over the Maharajah's shoul- 
ders, and so concluded the ceremony which in all royal interviews 
in the East is supposed to mean a lasting friendship. Then the 
Prince, taking General Grant's hand in his own, led him from the 
hall, across the garden and to the gateway of his palace, holding 
his hand all the time. Our carriages were waiting, and the Prince 
took his leave, saying how much he was honored by the General's 
visit. The cavalry escort formed in line, the guard presented 
arms, and we drove at a full gallop to our home. And so ended 
one of the most interesting and eventful days in our visit to 
India." 

On the 26th of February General Grant left Jeypore for Agra. 
He stopped on the way at Bhurtpoor, to visit the Maharajah of 
that place. "The day was hot," says Mr. Young, in his letter to 
The New York Herald, "and the ride had been through a low 
country, the scenery not attractive at the best, but now brown 
and arid under a steaming sun. We were in a frowsy condition, 
early rising, long waiting and an Indian atmosphere not contri- 
buting to the comforts of travel. About noon the blare of trum- 
pets and the rolling of the drums told us we were at Bhurtpoor. 
Putting ourselves together as best we could, and throwing off the 
sluggishness and apathy of travel, we descended. All Bhurtpoor 
was out at the station, and the Maharajah at the head. The 
Prince was accompanied by the British officers attached to his 
court, and, advancing, shook hands with the General and wel- 
comed him to his capital. The Maharajah looks older than his 
years, but this is a trait of most Indian princes. He wore a 
blazing uniform, covered with jewels. He has a firm, stern face, 
with strong features, a good frame, and, unlike his brother of Jey- 
pore, who gives his days to prayers and his evenings to billiards, 
and although he has the Star of India, has long since seen the 
vanity of human glory and hates power, is a soldier and a sports- 
man, and is called a firm and energetic ruler. He would make 
a good model for Byron's Lambro, and there was a stern, 
haughty grace in his unsmiling face. From the station we drove 
to the palace, into a town whose dismantled walls speak of 
English valor and English shame, past bazaars, where people 



543 



AROUND THE WORLD. 




THE MAHARAJAH OF BHURTPOOR. 

seemed to sell nothing, only to broil in the sunshine, and under 
a high archway into a courtyard and thence to the palace. 
There was nothing special about the palace except that it was 
very large and very uncomfortable. The decorations were odd. 
There were one or two bits of valuable china, prints of an Ameri- 
can circus entering London, an oil painting of our Saviour, various 
prints of the French and English royal families taken forty years 
ago. There were the Queen, the Prince Consort, Louis Philippe, 
Montpensier, and all the series of loyal engravings in vogue 
at the time of the Spanish marriages, all young and fresh 
and smiling faces, some of them now worn and gray, some 
vanished into silence. The palace seemed to be a kind of 
storeroom, in which the keepers had stored everything that 
came along, and as you walked from wall to wail, passing 



.. india. 549 

from cheap circus showbills to steel engravings of Wellington 
and oil paintings of our Lord, the effect was ludicrous. The 
Prince does not live in this palace, but in one more suited to Ori- 
ental tastes. It was here where he received the Prince of Wales 
on the occasion of his visit in 1876. There was a breakfast pre- 
pared, which the Prince left us to enjoy in company with our 
English friends. You know in this country the hospitality of the 
highest princes never goes so far as to ask you to eat. The 
rules of caste are so marked that the partaking of food with one 
of another caste, and especially of another race, would be defile- 
ment. Our host at the close of the breakfast returned in state, 
and there was the ceremony of altar and pan and cordial inter- 
changes of good feeling between the Maharajah and the General. 
" It was arranged that on our way to Agra we should visit the 
famous ruins of Futtehpoor Sikra. After leaving Bhurtpoor our 
road was through a series of villages and over a rolling plain. 
The sun beat fiercely upon our carriage, and we found what 
refuse we could under the leather curtains. Natives in various 
processes of squalor came hurrying after our carriages. In the 
mud huts we saw weavers at work, women grinding corn, tired 
laborers sleeping in the shade. We drove on until we came to 
the first stage. The Maharajah had sent a guard with us — sol- 
diers in heavy gilded uniforms, with fierce, eager, truculent eyes — 
to keep the robbers away. When we came to the first stage there 
were camels in waiting, and we had our first experience of camels 
in India. Two camels were hitched to each one of the carriages, 
and we drove off with a camel and pair. The road was hilly, 
and the camels are supposed to have more endurance than 
horses. Each camel carries a driver, and there is a third person 
who beats them with a o-oad or stick. The srait of the camel at 
first is a pleasant sensation, and the pace a good one. But in 
time it becomes wearisome, the constant bobbing up and down 
of the carriage under the uncouth, shambling gait of the beasts 
tiring you. The General got off in good style and made his way 
to the ruins without an adventure. The carriage in which Mr. 
Borie, the Colonel, Dr. Keating and I were riding was not so for- 
tunate. Our animals seemed to have scruples of conscience 



550 AROUND THE WORLD. 

about climbing- the hill, and insisted upon stopping. No induce- 
ment could move them. The driver pronged them with his goad, 
called them names, adjured them by all the gods in the Hindoo 
mythology to make their way to Futtehpoor Sikra. There they 
stood. Perhaps under'a severe pressure of the goad they would 
move a few paces and stop again. Here we were in India, on a 
lonely highway, the sun going down. Here the sun falls like a 
drop-curtain at the play. There is no twilight. In an instant 
the sable clouds sweep over the earth, and you are in darkness. 
To be belated on any road, hungry and dinner waiting, is dis- 
agreeable, but in India, with servants around you who do not 
know English, away from any town or village, on your way to a 
ruin, knowing that when night comes the lords of the jungle will 
come forth, was certainly not what we came to India to see. We 
tried all experiments to encourage the camels, even to the extent 
of putting our shoulders to the wheels and urging them on. 
This had little effect, and we mig-ht have had a ni<yht bivouac on 
the highway if, after a long delay, the camels had not changed 
their minds, and, breaking into a speedy pace, carried us into the 
ruined city. The night had fallen, and the General, when we ar- 
rived, was strolling alone about the courtyard smoking his cigar. 
" All that remains of Futtehpoor Sikra are the ruins. The 
various sections of the palace are given over to picnic parties and 
visitors. The British Collector at Agra has it under his charge, 
and those who come are instructed to bring- their food and bed- 
ding. Mr. Lawrence, the Collector, was there to meet us, and 
our hotel keeper at Agra had sent all that was necessary. The 
General, Mrs. Grant and Mr. Borie quartered in the ruin known 
as the Birbul's House. The remainder went with Mr. Lawrence 
to another ruin about a hundred paces off, which has no name. 
The Birbul House is supposed to have been the home of Akbar's 
daughter, or, as some think, a house enclosed and made sacred 
for the women of his harem. It is a two-storied building - , massive 
and large, and finished with a minuteness and delicacy that you 
never see even in patient India. As a house alone, the mere 
piling of blocks of sandstone one upon the other, the Birbul 
House would be a curious and meritorious work. But when you 



INDIA. 551 

examine it you see that there is scarcely an inch that has not 
been carved and traced by some master workmen. It is all 
stone, no wood or iron or metal of any kind has been used to 
fashion it. The workmen depended upon the stone, and so sure 
was their trust that although centuries have passed since it was 
built, and generations have ripened since it was abandoned, the 
work is as fresh and clean as though the artisan had only laid 
down his tools. So well did men work in those days of patience 
and discipline, and so gentle is the touch of time in Hindostan. 

" Candles were found and tables were builded, and there, under 
the massive walls of Akbar's hearth, looking out upon a star- 
gemmed, beaming Indian sky, we dined. And it seemed almost 
a sacrilege to bring our world — our material world from far 
America, our world of gossip and smoking tobacco and New 
York newspapers, of claret and champagne — into the very holy 
of holies of a great emperor's palace, whence he came from wars 
and conflict to be soothed by gentle voices and caressed by lov- 
ing hands. We were weary with our hard day's work, and after 
dinner found what rest we could. Mr. Borie was disposed to 
question the absence of windows, and had reasoned out the 
practicability of a midnight visit from a leopard or a panther or 
a wandering beast of prey. He contrasted in a few vivid and 
strikino- sentences the advantages which Torresdale and Phila- 
delphia possessed over even the palace of an emperor, to the 
detriment of Futtehpoor Sikra, and when a reasonable sum was 
suggested as a possible purchasing price, declined with scorn 
any prospect of becoming a land-owner in Hindostan. Our ac- 
commodations, although we were the recipients of Mogul hospi- 
tality, were primitive, and as you lay in the watches of the night 
and listened to the voices of Nature, the contrast with what she 
says in India and at home was marked. The noisy beast in India 
is the jackal. He is the scavenger, and in day hides in a ravine 
or a jungle fastness, to come out and prowl about settlements 
and live on offal. The jackal and hyena in literature are formid- 
able, but in Indian life are feared no more than a prowling, howl- 
ing village cur. I do not think that any of us were sorry when 
the early morning rays began to brighten up our ruined chambers, 



552 AROUND THE WORLD. 

and the velvet-footed servants, in flowing muslin gowns, came in 
bearing tea and toast, and telling us that our baths were ready, 
and that another leaf had been turned in the book of time. 

" The General does not regard early rising as a distinguishing 
trait, and some of the others were under the influence of his ex- 
ample ; but Mr. Borie was up and cheerful, and rejoicing in a 
white pony, which some magician had brought to his feet, saddled 
and bridled, to view the ruins. The sun had scarcely risen, and 
wise travellers, like Mr. Borie, always take the cool hours for 
their sight-seeing. But Mr. Borie is a very wise traveller who 
allows nothing to pass him, and so our party divided. Mr. 
Lawrence said he would wait for the General, and the early 
risers, under the escort of two young ladies who had been pas- 
sengers on the ' Venetia,' with Mr. Borie leading the van on his 
white pony, set out to view the ruins. To have seen all the ruins 
of this stupendous place would have included a ride around a 
circumference of seven miles. There were some ruins well 
worth a study. We went first to the quadrangle, a courtyard 
433 feet by 366 feet. On one side of this is the mosque, which 
is a noble building, suffering, however, from the overshadowing 
grandeur of the principal gateway, the finest, it is said, in India, 
looming up out of the ruins with stately and graceful splendor, 
but dwarfing the other monuments and ruins. This was meant 
as an arch of triumph to the glory of the Emperor, ' King of 
Kings,' ' Heaven of the Court,' and ' Shadow of God.' There 
are many of these inscriptions in Arabic, a translation of which 
I find in Mr. Keene's handbook. The most suggestive is this : 
' Know that the world is a elass where the favor has come and 
crone. Take as thine own nothing- more than what thou lookest 
upon.' We were shown one chamber where the body of a saint 
reposes, and also a tomb with a marble screen work of the most 
exquisite character. The prevailing aspect of the architecture 
was Moslem, with traces of Hindoo taste and decoration. The 
mosque, the tombs and the gateway are all well preserved. At 
one of the mosques were a number of natives in prayer, who 
interrupted their devotions long enough to show us the delicate 
tracing on the walls and beg a rupee. It was mentioned as an 



india. 553 

inducement to engage one of the guides that he had done the 
same office for the Prince of Wales. But one of the pleasures 
of wandering among these stupendous ruins is to wander alone 
and take in the full meaning of the work and the genius of the 
men who did it. The guides have nothing to tell you. The 
ruins to them are partly dwelling places, pretexts for begging 
rupees, and the guide who came on our track insisted upon 
showing us a well or a tank into which men jumped from a wall 
eighty feet high. Mr. Borie's resolution to see everything led 
us to accept the offer. On our way we met the General, who 
was also seeing the ruins. It was proposed that we should all 
go to the well and see the men jump. But we could not tempt 
the General. He did not want to see men jump, finding no 
pleasure in these dangerous experiments. As we came to the 
well, which was a square pond, with walls of masonry, the wall 
above was manned with eager natives, screaming and gesticulat- 
ingf. Mr. Borie singled out two, who threw off their few orar- 
ments and made the jump. The motion is a peculiar one. 
Leaping into the air they move their legs and arms so as to 
keep their feet down, and come into the water feet foremost. 
The leap was certainly a daring one, but it was done safely, and 
the divers came hurrying up the sides of the pond shivering and, 
chattering their teeth to claim their rupees and offer to jump all 
day for the same compensation." 

On the 27th General Grant and his party returned to Agra, 
and on the evening of the 28th the General was entertained at 
dinner by the Agra Club. 




CHAPTER XIV. 

INDIA CONCLUDED. 

Arrival of General Grant at Delhi — Description of Delhi — The Ruins — Beggars — The Mogul 
Kingdom — The Palace — The Peacock Throne — Tomb of an Indian Princess — General 
Grant goes to Lucknow — A Pleasant Host — The Residency — The Kaiser Bagh — Memories 
of the Defence of Lucknow — General Grant at Benares — The Sacred City of the Hindoos — 
A Severe Journey — Reception at Benares — The Holy Place — A City of Priests — The Tem- 
ples — The Religion of Brahma — Power of the Brahmins — The Splendors of Benares — 
Departure of General Grant from Benares — Arrival at Calcutta — Reception by the Authori- 
ties — General Grant the Guest of the Viceroy of India — The Fort — The City of Calcutta — 
Convocation of the University — Reception of General Grant by the Viceroy — Excursion to 
Lord Lytton's Country Seat — Barrackpore Park — Lord Lytton Entertains General Grant at 
a State Dinner — The Guests — Lord Lytton — His Administration. 

ENERAL GRANT and his party left Agra on the ist 
of March for Delhi, at which place they arrived in the 
afternoon. " It was early morning, and the stars were 
out," says Mr. Young, in his letter to The New York Herald, 
"when we drove to the Agra station to take the train for Delhi. 
There is something very pleasant in an Indian morning, and the 
cool hours between the going of the stars and the coming of the 
sun are always welcome to Englishmen as hours for bathing and 
recreation. There is no hardship in seeing the sun rise, as I am 
afraid would be the case in America. The cool morning breezes 
were welcome as we drove down to our station and heard the 
word of command and the music and saw the troops in line, the 
dropping of the colors and the glistening of the steel as the arms 
came to a present. All our Agra friends were there to bid us 
good-speed, and as the train rolled out of the station the thunder 
of the cannons came from the fort. Our ride to Delhi was like 
all the rides we have had in India during the day — severe, ener- 
vating, almost distressing. You cannot sleep, nor rest, nor read, 
and there is nothing in the landscape to attract. It is not until 
after you pass Delhi and go up into the hill regions toward the 

(554) 



Illllfl 




(555) 



556 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Himalayas that you begin to note the magnificence of Indian 
scenery, of which I have read and heard so much but as yet have 
not seen. We came into Delhi early in the afternoon in a worn- 
out, fagged condition. There was a reception by troops, and the 
General with Mrs. Grant drove to Ludlow Castle, the home of 
Gordon Young, the chief officer. The others found quarters in 
a comfortable hotel — comfortable for India — near the railway 
station. 

" The first impression Delhi makes upon you is that it is a 
beautiful town. But I am afraid that the word town, as we 
understand it at home, will give you no idea of a town in India. 
We think of houses built closely together, of avenues and streets, 
and people living as neighbors and friends. In India, a town 
is built for the air. The natives in some of the native sections, 
in the bazaars, live closely together, huddle into small cubby- 
holes of houses or rude caves, in huts of mud and straw, but 
natives of wealth and Englishmen build their houses where they 
may have space. A drive through Delhi is like a drive through 
the lower part of Westchester county or any of our country 
suburbs. The officials have their bungalows in the finest locali- 
ties, near wood and water when possible, surrounded by gardens. 
What strikes you in India is the excellence of the roads and the 
beauty of the gardens. This was especially true of Delhi. As 
you drove from the dusty station, with the strains of welcoming 
music and the clang of presenting arms in your ears, you passed 
through a section that might have been an English country town 
with gentlemen's seats all around. This accounts for what you 
read of the great size of the Indian cities — that they are so many 
miles long and so many broad. It is just as if we took Bay 
Ridge or Riverdale and drew lines around them, and calling 
them towns spoke of their magnitude. This is worthy of remem- 
bering also in recalling the sieges of the Indian towns during the 
mutiny. There is no town that I have seen that could stand a 
siege like one of our compactly built English or American towns. 
They are too large. Delhi, for instance, was never invested 
during the mutiny. The provisions came in every day and the 
soldiers could have left any time, just as they left Lucknow when 



• india. \ 557 

Colin Campbell came in. The defence of a city meant the 
defence of the fort or the palace. 

" There are few cities in the world which have had a more 
varied and more splendid career than Delhi. It is the Rome of 
India, and the history of India centres around Delhi. It has no 
such places as Benares in the religion. of the people, but to the 
Indians it is what Rome in the ancient days was to the Roman 
Empire. One of its authentic monuments goes back to the 
fourth century, before Christ. Its splendor began with the rise 
of the Mogul Empire, and as you ride around the suburbs you 
.see the splendor of the Moguls in what they built and the severity 
of their creed in what they destroyed. After you pass from the 
English section a ride through Delhi is sad. You go through 
miles of ruins — the ruins of many wars and dynasties, from what 
was destroyed by the Turk in the twelfth century to what 
was destroyed by the Englishman in the nineteenth. The 
suburbs of Jerusalem are sad enough, but there you have only 
the memories, the words of prophecy, and the history of destruc- 
tion. Time has covered or dispersed the ruins. But Time has 
not been able to do so with the ruins of Delhi. From the Cash- 
mere gate to the Rutab, a ride of eleven miles, your road is 
through monumental ruins. Tombs, temples, mausoleums, 
mosques in all directions. The horizon is studded with minarets 
and domes, all abandoned and many in ruins. In some of them 
Hindoo or Moslem families live, or, I may say, burrow. Over 
others the government keeps a kind of supervision ; but to 
supervise or protect all would be beyond the revenues of any 
government. I was shown one ruin — an arched way, beautiful 
in design and of architectural value — which it was proposed to 
restore ; but the cost was beyond the resources of the Delhi 
treasury. I have no doubt of the best disposition of the rulers 
of India toward the monuments and all that reminds the Hindoo 
of his earlier history. But these monuments were built when 
labor was cheap, when workmen were compelled to be content 
with a handful of corn, and when the will of the ruler was a 
warrant for anything that pleased him. 

" In wandering about Delhi, your mind is attracted to these sad 



558 AROUND THE WORLD. 

scenes. What it must have been when the Moguls reigned you 
may see in the old palace, the great mosque of Shah Ishan, and 
the Kutab. On the afternoon of our arrival we were taken to 
the palace, which is now used as a fort for the defence of the 
city. We have an idea of what the palace must have been in 
the days of Aurungzebe. 'Over against the great gate of the 
court,' says a French writer who visited India in the seventeenth 
century, 'there is a great and stately hall, with many ranks of 
pillars high raised, very airy, open on three sides, looking to the 
court, and having its pillars ground and gilded. In the midst of 
the wall, which separateth this hall from the seraglio, there is an 
opening or a kind of great window high and large, and so high 
that a man cannot reach to it from below with his hand. There 
it is where the King appears, seated upon his throne, having his 
sons on his side, and some eunuchs standing, some of which drive 
away the flies with peacocks' tails, others fan him with great fans, 
others stand there ready, with great respect and humility, for 
several services. Thence he seeth beneath him all the umrahs, 
rajahs, and ambassadors, who are also, all of them, standing upon 
a raised ground encompassed with silver rails, with their eyes 
downward and their hands crossing their stomachs.' ' In the court 
he seeth a great crowd of all sorts of people.' Sometimes His 
Majesty would be entertained by elephants and fighting animals 
and reviews of cavalry. There were feats of arms of the young 
nobles of the court ; but more especially was this seat a seat of 
justice, for if any one in the crowd had a petition he was ordered 
to approach, and very often justice was done then and there, for 
'those kings,' says a French authority, 'how barbarous soever 
esteemed by us, do yet constantly remember that they owe 
justice to their subjects.' 

" We were shown this hall, and, by the aid of a sergeant, who 
walked ahead and warned us against stumbling, climbed up a 
narrow stair and came out on the throne. All the decorations 
have vanished, and it is simply a marble platform, 'so high that a 
man cannot reach to it from below with his hands.' The view 
from the throne embraced a wide, open plain, which could easily 
accommodate a large crowd, as well as give space for manoeuvres, 



india. 559 

reviews, and fighting elephants. The hall even now is beautiful 
and stately, although it has been given over to soldiers, and the 
only audience that saluted General Grant during his brief tenure 
of the throne of Aurungzebe were groups of English privates 
who lounged about taking their ease, making ready for dinner, 
and staring at the General and the groups of officers who accom- 4 
panied him. The last of the Moguls who occupied this throne 
was the foolish old dotard whom the Sepoys made Emperor in 
1857, and who used to sit and tear his hair and dash his turban 
on the ground, and call down the curses of God upon his soldiers 
for having dragged him to the throne. All that has long since 
passed away. The Emperor lies in Burmah in an unknown 
grave, the site carefully concealed from all knowledge, lest some 
Moslem retainer should build a shrine to his memory. His son 
is a pensioner and prisoner at $3,000 a year. The rest of his 
family were slain, and the present house of the Mohammedan 
conquerors has sunk too low even for compassion. 

" Notwithstanding the havoc of armies and the wear and tear 
of barrack-life, there are many noble buildings in the palace. 
This hall of audience, before the mutiny, was decorated with 
mosaic; but an officer of the British army captured the mosaic, 
had it made up into various articles, and sold them for $2,500. 
From here we went to the hall of special audience, where the 
Emperor saw his princes and noblemen, and which is known as 
the hall of the peacock throne. The site of this famous throne 
was pointed out to us, but there is no trace of it. Around the 
white marble platform on which the throne rested are the follow- 
ing words in gilt Persian characters : — ' If there be an elysium on 
earth, it is this, it is this, it is this.' The peacock throne was 
simply a mass of jewels and gold, valued at about $30,000,000. 
Mr. Beresford, in his book on Delhi, says it was called the pea- 
cock throne 'from its having the figures of two peacocks standing 
behind it, their tails expanded, and the whole so inlaid with 
sapphires, rubies, emeralds, pearls, and other precious stones of 
appropriate colors, as to represent life. The throne itself was 
six feet long by four feet broad. It stood on six massive feet, 
which, with the body, were of solid gold inlaid with rubies, emer- 



560 AROUND THE WORLD. 

aids, and diamonds. It was supported by a canopy of gold, up- 
held by twelve pillars, all richly emblazoned with costly gems, and 
a fringe of pearls ornamented the borders of the canopy.' 'On 
the other side of the throne stood umbrellas, one of the Oriental 
\mblems of royalty. They were formed of crimson velvet richly 
embroidered, and fringed with pearls. The handles were eight 
feet high, of solid gold, and studded with diamonds.' The ceiling 
of this hall was of solid silver. In 1 739, when Nadir Shah, the Per- 
sian, took Delhi, he broke up the peacock throne and carried away 
the jewels; the Mahrattas came in 1760 and took the silver, the 
English the mosaics, the bath-tubs of marble and articles of lesser 
value, so that the room of the peacock throne is now a stripped 
and shabby room, with no shadow of its former splendor. 

"We went into the bath-rooms of the kings and the more 
private apartments. Some of those rooms had been ingeniously 
decorated in frescoes, but, when the Prince of Wales came to 
Delhi, a ball was given him in the palace, and three frescoes were 
covered with whitewash. No reason was given for this wanton- 
ness but that it was thought white would light up better under 
the ball-room lamps. I asked one of the officers who accom- 
panied us, and who told us the story with indignation, whether 
the decorations could not be restored, like the restorations in the 
mosque of Cordova. But there is no such hope. One of the 
most interesting features in a palace which has been already too 
much stripped vanishes before the whitewash brush of a subaltern. 
The same spirit was shown in the stripping of the great mosque 
called the Jam-Mussid. After the capture of Delhi, in 1857, the 
troops plundered it, going so far as to strip the gilding from the 
minarets. This mosque, even now, is one of the noblest buildings 
in India. It stands in the centre of the city, built upon a rock. 
In the ancient time there were four streets that converged upon 
the mosque, leading into various parts of the town. But as the 
mosque was used during the mutiny as a fort, all the space in 
front of it has been cleared for military purposes, and the space 
between the mosque and the palace, that was formerly densely 
peopled, is now an open plain, where troops may manoeuvre and 
cannon may fire. Nothing is more important, in the civilization 



INDIA. 561 

of India by the English, than that the cannon should have range. 
In the days of the Moguls the emperors came to the mosque to 
pray. It is now a religious edifice, having been restored to the 
Moslems recently, after twenty years' retention by the British — 
a sort of punishment to the Moslems for their course during the 
mutiny. The ascent is up a noble sweeping range of steps. 
These steps were crowded with people, who came out in the after- 
noon to enjoy the air, chatter, buy and sell and fight chickens. 
On Friday afternoon, when there is service, and on fete days, 
the steps become quite a fair. As the General and party walked 
alone, beeears and dealers in chickens and falcons swarmed 
around them, anxious for alms or to trade. One of the treasures 
in the mosque was a hair of Mohammed's beard. This holiest 
of Moslem relics is under a keeper, who has a pension for the 
service. He was a quiet, venerable soul, who brought us the 
relic in a glass case. The hair was long, and had a reddish 
auburn tinge which time has not touched. Another relic was a 
print of Mohammed's foot in marble. The footprint was deep 
and clear, and shows that when the Prophet put his foot down it 
was with a force which even the rocks could not resist. We 
strolled about the mosque, which is large and capacious, as 
should become the temple of an Emperor. A few devout souls 
were at prayer, but somehow the building had a neglected look. 
The mosque itself is 201 feet long and 120 feet broad, and the 
minarets 1 30 feet high. It was here that the Mogul emperors 
worshipped, and here was read the litany of the house of Timur. 
The last of these performances was during the mutiny in 1857, 
when the old King came in state, as his ancestors did, and repro- 
duced the sacred story of the sacrifice of Abraham in the sacri- 
fice of a camel by his own royal hands. 

"An interesting ,visit, worthy of remembrance, was our drive to 
the Kutab. We drove out in the early morning, and our course 
was for eleven miles through the ruins of the ancient city. The 
whole way was through ruins, but it is worth noting as a peculi- 
I arity of these ancient cities, that they drifted from point to point 
as improvements were made, and each generation drifted away 
from the line of its predecessor. The habit of beginning every- 
36 



562 AROUND THE WORLD. 

thing- new and never concluding what your fathers began, con- 
tributed to this habit of spreading over a large space, which might 
have been more compactly built. On our way to the Kutab we 
passed the monument of a daughter of Shah Tehan, whose mem- 
ory is cherished as that of a good and wise princess. The epi- 
taph, as translated by Mr. Russell, is worthy of preservation : 

" ' Let no rich canopy cover my grave. 

The grass is the best covering for the poor in spirit. 

The humble, transitory, Tehanara, the disciple of the Holy men of Cheest. 

The daughter of the Emperor Shah Tehan.' 

" The Kutab, or tower, was for a long time looming over the 
horizon before we came to its base. This tower ranks among" 
the wonders of India. It is 238 feet high, sloping from the base, 
which is forty-seven feet in diameter, to the summit, which is nine 
feet. It is composed of five sections or stories, and with each story 
there is a change in the design. The lower section has twenty- 
four sides, in the form of convex flutings, alternately semi-circular 
and rectangular. In the second section they are circular, the 
third angular, the fourth a plain cylinder, the fifth partly fluted 
and partly plain. At each basement is a balcony. On the lower 
sections are inscriptions in scroll-work, reciting in Arabic charac- 
ters the glory of God, verses from the Koran and the name and 
achievements of the conqueror who built the tower. It is be- 
lieved that when really complete, with the cupola, it must have 
been twenty feet higher. The work goes back to the fourteenth 
century, and with the exception of the cupola, which, we think, 
some British government might restore, it is in a good state of 
preservation. Everything in the neighborhood is a ruin. But 
the town itself seems so well built as to defy time. Another in- 
terest which attaches to the Kutab is that it is the site of one of 
the most ancient periods in the history of India. It is believed 
that there was a city here at the beginning of the Christian era, 
and one of the monuments is the iron pillar which was set up 
1,500 years ago. The pillar is a round, iron column, twenty-two 
feet high, with some inscription in Sanskrit character. There are 
several legends associated with the column which have grown 



INDIA. 563 

into the literature and religion of the Hindoo race. The con- 
trast between the modest, simple iron pillar, and the stupendous, 
overshadowing mass of stone at its side, might be said to typify 
the two races which once fought here for the Empire of Hindo- 
stan — the fragile Hindoo and the stalwart Mussulman. The 
power of both have given way to the men of the North. We 
climbed the Kutab to the first veranda, and had a good view of 
the country, which was desolation, and, having wandered about 
the ruins and looked at the old inscriptions and admired many 
fine bits of the ancient splendor which have survived time and 
war, we drove back to the city. 

" Attended by an officer who took part in the siege, the Gen- 
eral visited the lines held by the English and the Sepoys during 
the mutiny when the English Empire in India depended for 
months upon the valor and endurance of the small army which 
invested Delhi." 

Leaving Delhi on the 4th, General Grant and his party reached 
Lucknow on the 5th of March. " Our visit to Lucknow," says 
Mr. Young, in his letter to The New York Herald, " was made 
pleasant by meeting our friend W. C. Capper, Esq., who had 
been a fellow-passenger on the ' Venetia,' and whose guests we 
were during our stay in the ancient and memorable city. Mr. 
Capper is the chief judicial officer of this district, and lives in a 
large and pleasant house in the English quarters. Lucknow is 
the capital of the old Kingdom of Oude, which was annexed in 
1856 by the East India Company, under Lord Dalhousie. This 
peer is called by his admirers the great pro-consul, and his ad- 
ministration was celebrated for its ' firm ' and ' vigorous ' policy. 
The principles upon which His Lordship acted were recorded in 
a minute of the East India Council, passed in 1831, under the 
administration of Lord Auckland, which is worth quoting as one 
of the frankest annals of statecraft since the days of Rob Roy : 
' Our policy should be to persevere in the one clear and direct 
course of abandoning no just or honorable accession of territory 
or revenue, while all existing claims of right are scrupulously 
respected ' Under this policy, during Lord Dalhousie's rule, the 
Sikhs were defeated and their army disabled, the Punjaub was 



564 AROUND THE WORLD. 

annexed, Pega was taken from Burmah, the principality of Ihousi 
was taken from the Princess who ruled it and who sought a ter- 
rible revenge in the mutiny, the kingdom of Oude was seques- 
trated, and its King pensioned at $600,000 a year. Among the 
reasons for the annexation were the personal character of the 
kings, who passed their lifetimes within their palace walls, caring 
for nothing but the gratification of some individual passion, 
'avarice, as in one; intemperance, as in another; or, as in the 
present, effeminate sensuality, indulged among singers, musicians, 
and eunuchs, the sole companions of his confidence and the sole 
agents of his power.' You will observe that whenever the com- 
pany wanted territory or revenue there were always moral reasons 
at hand. It seems to an outside observer that the reasons for 
annexing the Oude dominions would have justified Napoleon in 
taking the dominions of George IV. 

" There are few sights in India more interesting than the 
ruins of the Residency in Lucknow, where, during the mutiny, 
a handful of English residents defended themselves against the 
overwhelming forces of the Sepoys until relieved by Havelock 
and Sir Colin Campbell. The story of that defence is one of the 
most brilliant in the annals of heroism and will always redound 
to the honor of the British name. After the relief the garrison 
evacuated, and the Sepoys, unable to destroy the garrison, de- 
stroyed the residences. The ruins are as they were left by Nana 
Sahib. Living hands have planted flowers and built monuments 
to mark the events of the siege, and the grounds are as carefully 
kept as a garden park. Mr. Capper, who was one of the garri- 
son during the siege, took General Grant to every point of 
interest — to the house of the commissioners ; to the cellars, 
where women and children hied during those fearful summer 
months ; to the ruins of Sir Joseph Fayrer's house and the spot 
where Sir Henry Lawrence died ; to the grave of Havelock and 
Lawrence. We saw the lines of Sir Colin Campbell's attack, 
when he captured Lucknow, put the garrison to the sword and 
ended the mutiny. We drove around the town and saw the 
various palaces, that remind you of the magnificence of the Oude 
dynasty, but whose grandeur disturbs the government, as they 



INDIA. 565 

are too expensive to keep and too grand to fall into ruins. The 
Chutter Munzil, which was built by the King who reigned in 
1827 as a seraglio, is now a club house. Here the residents 
gave the General and party a ball, which was a brilliant and 
agreeable affair. 

t O 

"The main palace is called the Kaiser Bagh — a great square of 
buildings surrounding an immense courtyard. These buildings 
are pleasant, with a blending of Italian and Saracenic schools, 
giving them an effeminate appearance, glaring with yellow paint. 
This palace cost, at Indian prices of labor, $4,000,000. A monu- 
ment shows you where the British captives were butchered in 
1857, for which deed Sir Colin Campbell took so terrible a 
revenge. We visited the Secunder Bagh, a palace built by the 
last King and given to one of his wives, Secunder, whence it 
derives its name. This was carried by the British, who killed the 
two thousand Sepoys defending it. We visited other public 
buildings, all going back to the Oude dynasty, showing that the 
kings did not hesitate to beautify their capital. We saw the 
curious building called the Martiniere, a most fantastic contriv- 
ance, built by a French adventurer who lived at the court of the 
Oude kings, and built this as a tomb for himself and as a college. 
We also visited the great Imambara, or Home of the Prophets, 
which in its time was the most noted building in Lucknow, and 
even now surprises you with the simplicity and grandeur of its 
style. It was used as a mausoleum for one of the nobles of 
Oude, and in other days the tomb was strewed with flowers 
'and covered with rich barley bread from Mecca, officiating 
priests being in attendance day and night, chanting verses from 
the Koran.' It is now an ordnance depot, and when General 
Grant visited it he was shown the guns and cannon balls by a 
sergeant of the army. 

" We drove through the old town, the streets narrow and dirty, 
and as we passed we noted that the people were of a different 
temper from those we had seen in other parts of India. Gener- 
ally speaking, a ride through a native town means a constant 
returning of salutes, natives leaving their work to come and 
stare and make you the Eastern salaam ; constant evidences of 



566 



AROUND THE WORLD. 




PAGODA OF CHILLENBAUM— INDIA. 

courtesy and welcome — of respect at least for the livery of your 
coachmen, which is the livery of the supreme authority and 
signifies to the native mind that there is one whom the authority 
of England delights to honor. There was nothing of this in 
Lucknow. The people are Mussulmans, of the fierce, conquer- 
ing race, on whom the yoke of England does not rest lightly, 



INDIA. 567 

who simply scowled and stared, but gave no welcome. Pleasant 
it was to visit a mission school, under the charge of American 
ministers. The clergymen directing the mission received the 
General and his party at the mission, a spacious old house in the 
suburbs. The scholars — all females — were seated under a tree, 
and as the General came to the gate they welcomed him by 
singing 'John Brown.' The pupils were bright, intelligent chil- 
dren, some of them young ladies. There were English, natives, 
and children of English and native parents. 

"We have been spending these past few days amid scenes 
which have a strange and never-dying interest to Englishmen — 
the scenes of the mutiny of 1857. Among the men we meet 
every day are men who did their share in the defence of the 
English empire during that dreadful time. What an interest it 
adds to your knowledge of any famous place to be able to see 
it with men who were there, to have them recall what they and 
their comrades suffered in defence of their lives, in rescue of the 
lives of others, to save to England this rich and precious heritage. 
' Here is where I saw poor Lawrence die.' ' Here is where they 
buried Havelock.' ' Here is the cellar where our women hid 
during that fearful summer, with shot and shell falling every 
moment.' ' That is the position captured by the English, where 
they killed 1,700 Sepoys.' 'Here is one of the trees where we 
hanged our prisoners. It used to be great fun to the old ser- 
geant, who would say, as he dragged up the prisoners, " What a 
fine lot of plump birds I have brought you this morning ! " 
* Here is where we used to stand and pot the rebels, and go to 
bed angry if we did not make a good bag.' ' Here is where we 
learned the terrible fascination blood has to our human nature, 
the delight of killing that grew upon us, that I shudder now to 
recall it.' You gather up remarks like this that have been made 
to you by various gentlemen and officers in Lucknow, Delhi and 
other places visited by us in passing through the sections of 
India where the mutiny was in force." 

On the 8th of March, General Grant and his party left Luck- 
now for Benares, arriving there at ten o'clock the same evening. 
** The day had been warm and enervating," says Mr. Young, in his 



568 AROUND THE WORLD. 

letter to The New York Herald, " and our journey was through a 
country lacking in interest. Long, low, rolling plains, monoto- 
nous and brown, were all that we could see from the car windows. 
At the various railway stations where we stopped guards of 
honor were in attendance, native troops in their white parade 
costumes and officers in scarlet, who came to pay their respects 
to the General. The Viceroy has telegraphed that he will delay 
his departure from Calcutta to the hills to enable himself to meet 
General Grant. In return for this courtesy the General has ap- 
pointed to be in Calcutta earlier than he expected. He has cut 
off Cawnpore, Lahore, Simla and other points in Northern India 
which had been in his programme. Then the weather is so warm 
that we must hurry our journey so as to be out of the country 
before the hot season is really upon us and the monsoon storms 
bar our way to China. It is a source of regret to the General 
that he did not come earlier to India. Every hour in the coun- 
try has been full of interest, and the hospitality of the officials and 
the people is so generous and profuse that our way has been es- 
pecially pleasant. What really caused this delay was the Gen- 
eral's desire to take the American man-of-war ' Richmond,' which 
has always been coming to meet him, but has never come. But 
for his desire to accept the courtesy of the President in the spirit 
in which it was offered, the General would have come to India 
earlier. As it is, the offer of the Government was a barren one. 
If the General had waited for the ' Richmond,' he would never 
have seen India, and from the pace she is making in Atlantic 
waters, it would probably have taken him as long to go around 
the world as it did Captain Cook. 

"Travel in India during the day is very severe. The only 
members of our party about whom we have anxiety on the 
ground of fatigue are Mr. Borie and Mrs. Grant. The friends 
of Mr. Borie will be glad to know that he has stood the severest 
part of his journey around the world wonderfully well, consider- 
ing the years that rest upon him and his recent illness. Mr. 
Borie is a comprehensive traveller, anxious to see everything, 
who enters into our journey with the zest and eagerness of a 
boy, and whose amiability and kindness, patience under fatigue, 



INDIA. 569 

and consideration for all about him, have added a charm to our 
journey. Mrs. Grant has also stood the journey, especially the 
severer phases of it, marvellously, and justifies the reputation 
for endurance and energy which she won on the Nile. As for 
the General, he is, so far as himself is concerned, a severe and 
merciless traveller, who never tires; always ready for an excur- 
sion or an experience, and as indifferent to the comforts and ne- 
cessities of the way as when in the Vicksburg campaign he would 
make his bivouac at the foot of a tree. There is this military 
quality in travelling on the General's part, that he will map out 
his route for days ahead from maps and time tables, arrange just 
the hour of his arrival and departure, and never vary it. In the 
present case the wishes of the Viceroy, who has been most cor- 
dial in his welcome, and who is anxious to go to the hills, has 
shortened our trip and changed the General's plan. What we 
shall do after leaving Calcutta is uncertain. The telegraph will 
have told you before you have this letter. If the ' Richmond ' is 
in reach, or there is some other vessel of the navy within reach, 
the General will take her for the purpose of visiting some of the 
out-of-the-way points outside of the beaten track of travel. He 
will also go to Madras, and see the Duke of Buckingham, and to 
Ceylon. If she has not entered the Indian Ocean, the General 
will keep on with such passenger lines as he can find, and be 
home early in the summer. 

" We were all tired and frowsy and not wide awake when the 
train shot into Benares station. The English representative of 
the Viceroy, Mr. Daniells, came on the train and welcomed the 
General to Benares. Then we descended, and the blare of 
trumpets, the word of command, with which we have become so 
familiar, told of the guard of honor. The General and Mrs. 
Grant, accompanied by the leading military and civic English 
representatives and native rajahs, walked down the line with un- 
covered heads. The night was clear, a full moon shining, and the 
heavens a dome of light, which softened the landscape and seemed 
to bring into picturesque prominence the outlines of the sacred 
city. One could well imagine that Benares, the eternal city, fa- 
vored of the gods, might always look as it did when we came into 



570 AROUND THE WORLD. 

it. The blending of uniforms, the English officers in scarlet, the 
native princes in rich and flowing garments blazing with gems — 
on one side the line of armed men, on the other a curious crowd 
of Indians — all combined to make the scene Oriental and vivid. 
In honor of the General's coming the road from the station to the 
Government House had been illuminated. Poles had been stuck 
in the ground on either side of the road, and from these poles 
lanterns and small glass vessels filled with oil were swinging. So 
as we drove, before and behind was an avenue of light that re- 
minded you of one of the Paris boulevards as seen from Mont- 
martre. It was a long drive to the house of the Commissioner, 
but even this and the fatigue of one of the severest days we had 
known in our experience of Indian travel were recompensed by 
the grace of our welcome. A part of his house Mr. Daniells 
gave to General and Mrs. Grant and Mr. Borie. For the others 
there w r ere tents in the garden. Although it was late, after sup- 
per we sat on the veranda for a long time, talking about India, 
England and home, fascinated by the marvellous beauty of the 
night — a beauty that affected you like music. 

"You must do your sight-seeing in India early in the morning 
or late in the afternoon. And so it was arranged that the short 
time we could give to Benares should be fully occupied. In the 
morning we should go to the temples and sail down the Ganges, 
so as to have a view of the bathing-places, the spots where the 
bodies are burned, the pilgrims bathing in the holy waters, the 
terraced sides of the city, its Moslem turrets and Hindoo domes. 
This arranged we repaired to our tents to find what rest the few 
hours that remained before dawn would give. Tent life in India 
is the most pleasant way of living. Your tent is capacious, with 
four sides, and is really a double tent — one over the other. This 
allows the air to circulate and gives you a passage-way around, 
and room for all manner of comforts. I had heard so much of 
animal life in India that I walked about my tent with a feeling of 
inquiry as to whether a cobra might not be coiled up in the straw, 
or whether some friend of the jungle might not include our camp 
in the list of his wanderings. But the cobra, although the dead- 
liest of snakes, is not much about until the rains come, and as we 



INDIA. 571 

are in India in the dormant season, we are not apt to see cobras. 
Here the servant, who sleeps on the ground at the tent door, has 
been beating the straw with a stick, for he has as much interest 
in the cobra question as I have. The only animal from the jun- 
gle that ever visits your camp is the jackal, and he is a cowardly 
brute, who only comes for offal. Wild animals avoid fire, and I 
observed that the servants who attended our small camp put a 
burning oil taper just outside of the door. That flickering taper 
would be as sure a guard against the jackal, against any animal 
of the jungle, as a battery of artillery. No power would induce 
even a tiger to come near it. My servant gives me all this infor- 
mation with comforting assurance, and so, after strolling over to 
the other tents, apparently to say good-night to the Colonel and 
the Doctor, but really, I suppose, to have another look at the skies 
and breathe the odor of the flowers, I retired. Before the sun 
was up the servant came floating in — I suppose it is the white, 
flowing muslin gowns and their noiseless step that give you the 
idea of floating — with tea and toast, and told ' Sahib ' that the 
carriages were coming for our drive to the holy temples of 
Benares. 

" Benares, the sacred city of the Hindoos, sacred also to the 
Buddhists, is one of the oldest in the world. Macaulay's descrip- 
tion, so familiar to all, is worth reprinting, from the vividness with 
which it represents it, as we saw it to-day. ' Benares,' says Ma- 
caulay, in his essay on Warren Hastings, 'was a city, which in 
wealth, population, dignity and sanctity, was among the foremost 
in Asia. It was commonly believed that half a million human 
beings were crowded into the labyrinth of lofty alleys, rich with 
shrines and minarets, and balconies and carved oriels, to which 
the sacred apes clung by hundreds. The traveller could scarcely 
make his way through the press of holy mendicants and not less 
holy bulls. The broad and stately flights of steps which de- 
scended from these swarming haunts to the bathing-places along 
the Ganges were worn every day by the footsteps of an innumer- 
able multitude of worshippers. The schools and temples drew 
crowds of pious Hindoos from every province where the Brah- 
minical faith was known. Hundreds of devotees came thither 



572 AROUND THE WORLD. 

every month to die, for it was believed that a peculiarly happy 
fate awaited the man who should pass from the sacred city into 
the sacred river. Nor was superstition the only motive which 
allured strangers to that great metropolis. Commerce had as 
many pilgrims as religion. All along the shores of the venerable 
stream lay great fleets of vessels laden with rich merchandise. 
From the looms of Benares went forth the most delicate silks 
that adorned the halls of St. James and Versailles ; and in the 
bazaars the muslins of Bengal and the sabres of Oude were 
mingled with the jewels of Golconda and the shawls of Cashmere.' 
Benares to one-half the human race — to the millions in China 
who profess Buddhism, and the millions in India who worship 
Brahma — is as sacred as Jerusalem to the Christian or Mecca to 
the Mohammedan. Its greatness was known in the days of 
Nineveh and Babylon, when, as another writer says, ' Tyre was 
planting her colonies, when Athens was gaining in strength, be- 
fore Rome had become known, or Greece had contended with 
Persia, or Cyrus had added to the Persian monarchy, or Nebu- 
chadnezzar had captured Jerusalem.' The name of Benares 
excites deep emotions in the breast of every pious Hindoo, and 
his constant prayer is, ' Holy Kasi ! Would that I could see the 
eternal city favored of the gods ! Would that I might die on its 
sacred soil !' 

" Benares is the city of priests. Its population, notwithstand- 
ing Macaulay's estimate, is less than two hundred thousand. Of 
this number from twenty to twenty-five thousand are Brahmins. 
They govern the city and hold its temples, wells, shrines and 
streams. Pilgrims are always arriving and going, and as the day 
of General Grant's visit fell upon one of the holiest of Indian 
festivals, we found it crowded with pilgrims. Sometimes as many 
as two hundred thousand come in the course of a year. They 
come to die, to find absolution by bathing in the sacred waters of 
the Ganges. The name comes from a prince named Banar, who 
once ruled here. The Hindoo name, Kasi, means ' splendid.' 
There is no record of the number of temples. Not long since 
one authority counted 1,454 Hindoo temples, and 272 Moham- 
medan mosques. In addition to the temples there are shrines, 




(57; 



574 AROUND THE WORLD. 

cavities built in walls containing the image of some god, as sacred 
as temples. Pious rajahs are always adding to the temples and 
shrines. One of the rulers of Jeypore offered to present 100,000 
temples provided they should be commenced and finished in one 
day. ' The plan hit upon,' says the Rev. Mr. Sherring, who tells 
the story, 'was to cut out on blocks of stone a great many tiny 
carvings, each one representing a temple. The separate blocks, 
therefore, on the work being completed, exhibited from top to bot- 
tom and on all sides a mass of minute temples.' It is believed that 
there are a half million of idols in the city. The effect of the 
British rule has been to increase the idols and temples, for the 
law of the British gives protection to all religions, and under 
this the Hindoo has been able to rebuild the monuments which 
the Mohammedan invaders pulled down. Aurungzebe, who 
flourished at the close of the seventeenth century, and to whom 
Benares owes a prominent and picturesque mosque, was the 
chief among the destroyers of images. To Aurungzebe the 
Hindoos attribute the overthrow of most of the shrines which 
made Benares famous in other days. Since the Hindoos have 
been guaranteed the possession of their temples, the work of 
rebuilding has gone on with increasing zeal. It is noted, how- 
ever, perhaps as an effect of what Islam did in its days of empire, 
that the monuments of the later Hindoo period are small and 
obscure when compared with what we see in southern India, 
where the power of the idol-breakers never was supreme. The 
temples are small. The Hindoo, perhaps, has not such a con- 
fidence in the perpetuity of British rule as to justify his express- 
ing it in stone. And when your imagination is filled with all 
you have read of the mighty monuments of India, you are dis- 
appointed to see so many of their temples toy buildings, which 
have nothing of the force and grandeur of the Moslem mosques. 
" It is not in the nature of the Hindoo to find an expression for 
his religion in stone. All Nature, the seas, the streams, the hills, 
the trees, the stars, and even the rocks are only so many forms 
of the Supreme existence. Why then attempt to express it in 
stone? That belongs more particularly to Islam and Christi- 
anity, who know only one God and exhaust the resources of art 



india. 575. 

to magnify and glorify His name. There is more true worship 
in the dome of St. Peter and the nave of Canterbury, than in 
all the temples of India. What you see in Benares is not a 
stately but a picturesque city, with every variety of Hindoo wor- 
ship meeting you at every turn. It is indeed a teeming town. 
The streets are so narrow that only in the widest can even an 
elephant make his way. They are alleys — narrow alleys, not 
streets — and as you thread your way through them you feel as 
if the town were one house, the chambers only separated by 
narrow passages. The absence of carriages makes it a silent 
town — as silent as Venice — and all you hear is the chattering of 
pilgrims moving from shrine to shrine. Many of the alleys were 
so narrow that two of us could not walk abreast. I am afraid 
Benares is not a savory city. The odors that come from the vari- 
ous temples and churchyards, where curs, priests, beggars, fakirs, 
calves, monkeys, were all crammed, might have been odors of 
sanctity to the believers in Vishnu, but to us they were oppressive 
and prevented as intelligent and close a study of the religion as 
some of us might have bestowed. Yet our procession was Ori- 
ental. The Commissioner, Mr. Daniells, had provided Sedan 
chairs for the party. These chairs were heavy, ornamented with 
gold and brass, mounted on poles and carried on the shoulders 
of four bearers. They are used by persons of rank, and the 
rank is also expressed by carrying over the head an embroidered 
silk umbrella in gaudy colors. When we came to the outskirts 
of the town our chair-bearers were waiting for us, and the Gen- 
eral was told that he might take his place. But the idea of 
swinging in a gaudy chair from a pole, with attendants before 
and behind calling upon the people to make way, and a dazzling 
umbrella over his head decorated with all the colors of the rain- 
bow, was too much for the General. He preferred to walk. Mrs. 
Grant was put in one chair, and Mr. Borie, whose health is such 
as to make every little aid in the way of movement welcome, was 
in another. The General and the rest of the party made their 
way on foot. We were accompanied by several officers of the 
British Residency, and, as we wound along the alleys from temple 
to temple, were quite a procession. In the eyes of the popula- 



576 AROUND THE WORLD. 

tion it was a distinguished procession, for the uplifted chairs, 
richly decorated, the swaying of umbrellas covered with silver 
and gold, the attendants in the British government livery — all 
told that there was among us one whom even the Englishman 
delighted to honor. But I am bound to say that the admiration, 
the respect, the wondering gaze, the low bent salaam, which 
everywhere met us, and which were intended for the General, 
were bestowed on Mr. Borie. The General, wearing his white 
helmet, walked ahead with Mr. Daniells unnoticed. Mr. Borie 
was in the chair of honor, and to the native mind the occupancy 
of that chair was the advertisement of his rank and fame. There 
was something, too, in our friend's white full beard, his thin gray 
locks and the venerable features which was not unbecoming what 
the natives expected to see in the ex-President. Mr. Borie, who 
is as polite a man as ever lived, returned all the salutes that were 
given him, and bore with good humor the raillery of some of 
the party, who accused him of imposing himself upon the people 
of holy Benares as General Grant. But one of the most frequent 
incidents of our Indian trip, as we stop at stations or stroll around 
the platform waiting for a train, is that the crowd should single 
out Mr. Borie's reverend face as that of the General, and bestow 
upon it their curiosity and admiration. 

" The Brahmins are the strongest social and religious force in 
Hindostan. Benares is their city. The policy which founded the 
Order of Jesuits has often been cited as a masterpiece of gov- 
ernment of combining the strongest intellectual force toward 
missionary enterprise. But the Order of Jesuits is a society un- 
der rules and discipline only binding its members. The Brah- 
mins not only govern themselves as rigidly as the Jesuits and 
hold themselves ready to go as far in the service of their faith, 
but they have imposed their will upon every other class. Men 
of the world, men in other callings, use the name of Jesuit as a 
term of reproach, and even Catholic kings have been known to 
banish them and put them outside of civil law. There is not a 
prince in Hindostan who would dare to put a straw in the path 
of a Brahmin. As an aowessive influence Brahminism showed 
its power in its war upon Buddhism. The worship of Buddha 



578 AROUND THE WORLD. 

was really a protest against the laxity of the Brahmin faith, just 
as the Reformation sprang from the war made by Martin Luther 
upon the easy discipline of the Holy See. So successful was 
Buddhism that at one time it swept over Hindostan, submerging 
every form of the Hindoo faith, except the Brahmins. The other 
classes, glad to escape from the caste yoke imposed upon them 
by the priests, were, no doubt, only too glad to welcome a faith in 
which there were no castes, no barriers to genius and virtue. In 
spite of all this the Brahmins, succeeding in doing what the Jesuits 
have been striving in vain to do for centuries, they revived their 
own faith, revived all their privileges and distinctions, drove Buddh- 
ism into China and Burmah, and are to-day as they were 3,000 
years ago, the most powerful class in India. Brahminism is one 
of the oldest institutions in the world, one of the most extraor- 
dinary developments of human intellect and discipline, and there 
is no reason to suppose that its power over India will pass away. 
" It is difficult to understand Benares without recalling some 
of the features of the strange and subtle faith which came from 
within its holy walls. As we threaded our way through its alleys 
and passed from shrine to shrine it seemed to be a city at prayers. 
Some of these temples were so narrow that even the chair-bearers 
could not enter, and we made our pilgrimage on foot. You enter 
a small archway and come into a courtyard. I should say the 
courtyard was a hundred feet square. In the centre is a shrine 
— a canopied shrine. Under this is a god, whichever god hap- 
pens to be worshipped. It is generally a hideous stone, without 
grace or expression. Pilgrims are around it, in supplication, and 
as they pray they put offerings on the altar before the idol. 
These offerings are accordine to the means of the devotee, but 
most of those I saw were flowers. Hindoo urchins come up to 
you and put garlands of flowers about your neck. This is an act 
of grace and welcome, but you are expected to give money. In 
front of the idol, sitting on his feet, is the Brahmin reading the 
Vedas. You know the Brahmin by the sacred thread which he 
wears on his shoulder and by the marks of his caste on his fore- 
head. These marks are painted every morning after the bath. 
But even without the painted brow and the drooping loop of 



india. 579 

thread you can come to know the Brahmin from his bearing, his 
clean-cut, intellectual face, his mien of conscious intellect and su- 
periority. He is much the highest type in India, and the manner 
in which he has kept his caste — pure, governing and gifted — 
livould make a valuable study to those who take interest in the 
mysterious philosophy of the descent of man. The Brahmin sits 
at his book and scarcely notices you. Perhaps your coming is 
.not a good omen. He reads the Scriptures under the influence 
«of omens. Unusual winds, rain, thunder, meteors, the howling 
of the jackals are all so unfortunate as to destroy the value of 
the holy reading. Perhaps this coming of a company of infidels, 
smoking, talking and staring may be evil. But the Brahmin ap- 
parently does not see evil in the alien, for he reads on. Mrs. 
Grant, with proper notions about church and what is becoming 
in holy places, fears that the cigars may offend the pilgrims, and 
to her mind religion, no matter how grotesque and superstitious, 
is so holy a thing in itself and in the feelings it represents that 
anything in the least disposed to offend even the meanest of the 
worshippers would be distressing. It appears, however, that the 
cigars arose from a suggestion of the Commissioner, who told 
us as we came into the narrow ways that smoking was no offence 
to the Hindoo, and that if by any possibility we could smoke there 
were sanitary reasons and reasons of comfort why we should do 
so. Mrs. Grant satisfied on the propriety of our smoking, we study 
the temple. It is overcrowded, close, malodorous. Beggars are 
around you. Pilgrims pray and chant. On the walls — for our 
temple is open — monkeys are perching, chattering, and skipping. 
Around the walls of the enclosure are stalls, with cows and 
calves. These are sacred — held in reverence by the pilgrims, 
who feed and caress and adore them. One or two are monstrous 
births and they are specially adored. The animals move about 
among the worshippers quite tame, somewhat arrogant. Mrs. 
Grant was wearing a garland of flowers which a child who sup- 
plied flowers to the worshippers had thrown over her neck. One 
of the animals, seeing the flowers and knowing- them to be 
savory, made a rush for the garland, and before any one could 
interfere was munching and tearing it in a deliberate manner. 



580 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Evidently that cow had had her own way in her relations with the 
human race, and if she chose to make as much of a meal as pos- 
sible out of the decorations and possessions of Mrs. Grant, it was 
only the force of education. One of the police came to the 
rescue of our lady, but it was only after a struggle that the cow- 
could be persuaded to abandon her meal. I have no doubt many 
holy Brahmins were grieved to see the authority of England in 
the shape of a policeman cudgel a sacred animal into its stall. 

"If I were to tell you of all the wells and temples in Benares, 
the holy places and the legends which make them sacred, it would 
carry me beyond bounds. Benares and its temples contain ma- 
terial enough for a literature instead of a mere letter in a news- 
paper. After we had visited several of the temples we went to 
the observatory of Raja Jai Singh, built at the close of the seven- 
teenth century, and, looking down from its battlements, we see 
the sacred river shining in the morning sun, the teeming, busy 
hive of temples and shrines, from which the hum of worship 
seems to arise ; masses of pilgrims sluggishly moving toward 
the river to plunge into its holy waters and be cleansed of sin. 
We are pointed out the site of the holy well of Manikarnaki, dug 
by the god Vishnu, consecrated by the god Mahadeva, whose 
waters will wash away any sin and make the body pure. From 
here we went down to the water, and, on board of a steam launch, 
slowly we steamed under the banks, and the view of the city as 
seen from our boat was one of the most striking the world can 
afford. Although the day was not far advanced, the sun was out 
in all his power. Here was the burning Ghat, the spot where the 
bodies of the Hindoos are burned. No office is so sacred to the 
dead as to burn his body on the banks of the Ganges. As we 
slowly steamed along, a funeral procession was seen bearing a 
body to the funeral pyre. We observed several slabs set around 
the burning Ghat. These were in memory of widows who had 
burned themselves on that spot in honor of their husbands, ac- 
cording to the old rite of suttee. We passed the temple of the 
Lord Tavaka, the special god who breathes such a charm into the 
ear of the dying that the departing soul goes into eternal bliss. 
We passed the temple built in honor of the two feet of Vishnu,, 



INDIA. 581 

and which are worshipped with divine honors. We saw the 
Ghats or steps erected by Sindia, an Indian prince, built in heavy 
masonry, but broken, as by an earthquake, and slowly going to 
ruin. We pass the lofty mosque of Aurungzebe, notable only 
for its two minarets, which, rising to 150 feet, are the highest 
objects in Benares, and are a landmark for miles and miles. We 
pass shrines and temples without number, the mere recital of 
whose names and attributes would fill several columns. All this 
as lost in the general effect of the city as seen from the river. 
Benares sits on the sacred river, an emblem of the strange re- 
ligion which has made it a holy city, and there is solemnity in the 
thought that for ages she has kept her place on the Ganges, that 
for ages her shrines have been holy to millions of men, that for 
ages the wisest and purest and best of the Indian race have 
wandered as pilgrims through her narrow streets and plunged 
themselves as penitents into the waters to wash away their sins. 
It is all a dark superstition, but let us honor Benares for the 
comfort she has given to so many millions of sinful, sorrowing 
souls. And, as we pass along the river toward our house, and 
leave the white towers and steps of Benares glistening in the sun- 
shine, we look back upon it with something of the respect and 
affection that belong to antiquity, and which are certainly not un- 
worthily bestowed upon so renowned, so sacred, and so venerable 
a city." 

On the 9th of March General Grant and his party left Benares 
for Calcutta, the capital of British India, and reached that city 
early on the morning of the 10th, after a very fatiguing journey. 
•" The American Consul-General, General Litchfield, was present 
at the station," says Mr. Young, in his letter to The New 
York Herald, " with a guard of honor from the Viceroy and an 
aide. The General drove off in the state carriages, with a small 
escort of cavalry, to the Government House, where preparations 
had been made by Lord Lytton for the reception of himself and 
party. The streets had been watered and there was just the sus- 
picion of a cool breeze from the Hoogly, which, after the distress 
of a long night ride, made our morning drive pleasant. A line 
of native policemen was formed for a distance of about two miles, 



582 AROUND THE WORLD. 

from the railway station to the door of the Government House r 
who saluted the General as he drove along. The Government 
House is a large, ornate building, standing in a park or open 
square, and was built in 1804. The corner-stone was laid about 
the time that Washington laid the foundation of the capitol. The 
cost of the building was $750,000. It is said to resemble the 
English country house of Lord Scarsdale, in Derbyshire, just as 
our White House is said to be copied from the palace of the 
Duke of Leinster, near Dublin. It is a noble, stately building, 
and may rank with any of the palaces in Europe, while it is 
smaller and less pretentious than many of them. Although the 
Government House is much larger than the White House, there 
is not so much room. This is because the White House was 
built for a temperate, the Government House for a tropical 
climate. A European in this country would stifle in a house 
that would be largfe and awkward at home. The idea of the- 
Government House is a central building, with four outlying 
blocks, which form wings. There are magnificent council-rooms 
and a reception-room, which joins to the state dining-room. The 
two ideas which govern the architecture of the government houses 
in India are comfort and splendor — comfort, in order that the 
European may live ; splendor, in order that the eye and imagina- 
tion of the Oriental may be dazzled. It is rather odd at first to 
see the cold-blooded indifferent, matter-of-fact Englishman, who 
at home only cares for practical things, as solicitious about pomp 
and ceremony as a court chamberlain. This is because pomp 
and ceremony are among the essentials of the government of 
India. 

" Of the public buildings, the Fort is, perhaps, the most import- 
ant. It was begun by Clive, after the battle of Plassey, and cost 
$10,000,000. It mounts 600 guns, and is a strong work in good 
preservation. This is the home of the Commander-in-Chief of 
the army. There is a town hall in the Doric style, with some 
large rooms for public entertainments. The Court House is a 
Gothic pile, with a massive tower. In Dalhousie Square is the 
Currency Office, a large building in the Indian style of archi- 
tecture. The Mint stands on the river bank. It is composed of 



INDIA. 58£. 

two buildings, which, with the grounds, cover a space of eighteen 
and one-half acres, and is said to be the largest mint in the world. 
There is a Custom House, a bonded warehouse, and a block 
known as the 'Writers' Buildings/ where young men find homes 
when they come to India. The new Post Office, with its Cor- 
inthian columns and dome, is a handsome building, while the new 
telegraph office is large and imposing. The Metcalf Hall is 
where the agricultural shows are held, and the Dalhousie Insti- 
tute is erected as a kind of Pantheon, 'a monumental edifice, to 
contain within its walls statues and busts of great men.' Most 
of the statues are of men who won fame in the mutiny. The St.. 
Paul's Cathedral cost $250,000, and is the metropolitan church 
of the Episcopal Diocese of Calcutta. It is a graceful and rich 
building, 247 feet long, 81 wide, and, at the transepts, 114 feet. 
There are several monuments and memorial windows to famous 
Anglo-Indians, among them a superb monument to the wise and 
saintly Heber, whose name is one of the glories of British civili- 
zation in India. The statue is by Chantrey, and it represents the 
illustrious divine in the robes of his holy office, with the Book of 
Prayer. . There are other churches — seventeen Protestant, eight 
Roman Catholic, and six miscellaneous. The old Mission Church 
is a curious building. The Scotch Church is a handsome Grecian 
edifice. There is a free Scotch Church, built through the efforts, 
of Dr. Duff, and chapels of the Wesleyan and Baptist denomina- 
tions. There are no Hindoo temples in Calcutta, the people 
worshipping in their houses or on the banks of the river, which 
is one of the sacred rivers of India. Some of the wealthy Hindoos 
have apartments in their houses where gods are worshipped, but 
the great body of the people simply go to the river, bathe, and 
pray, a form of faith which promotes cleanliness as well as godli- 
ness. There are several mosques, the finest being one erected 
by the son of Tippoo Sultan ' in gratitude to God and in com- 
memoration of the Honorable Court of Directors Granting- him 

<3> O 

the arrears of his stipend in 1840.' 

"The annual convocation for conferring degrees of the Uni- 
versity took place while General Grant was in Calcutta. The 
General, accompanied by Sir Ashley Eden, Lieutenant Governor 



584 AROUND THE WORLD. 

of Bengal, and Sir Alexander Arbuthnot, the Vice Chancellor, 
attended the convocation. The General and the Bishop of Cal- 
cutta sat on the Vice Chancellor's right and Sir Ashley Eden on 
his left. Degrees were conferred upon students from the various 
colleges throughout India, and the Vice Chancellor made a speech 
which contained some interesting references to education in India. 
In conclusion Sir Alexander made a pleasant allusion to the pres- 
ence of General Grant. 

" The Viceroy received General Grant with great kindness. 
Lord Lytton said he was honored in having as his guest a gen- 
tleman whose career he had so long followed with interest and 
respect, and that it was especially agreeable to him to meet one 
who had been chief magistrate of a country in which he had spent 
three of the happiest years of his life. Lord Lytton had reference 
to his residence in Washington as a member of the British Leo-a- 
tion during the time when his uncle, Sir Henry Bulwer, was 
Minister to the United States. His Lordship was cordial in his 
greeting of Mr. Borie, and referred to the latter gentleman's 
service in the Cabinet. He also conversed with Colonel Grant 
about General Sheridan. Nothing could have been more con- 
siderate than the reception. The Viceroy regretted that the 
duties of his office, which on account of Burmese and Afghan 
complications and his departure for Simla were unusually press- 
ing, prevented his seeing as much of the members of the Gen- 
eral's party as he wished. In the afternoon we drove around the 
city and listened to the band. All the English world of Calcutta 
spend the cool of the day in the gardens, and the General and 
the Viceroy had a long stroll. At night there was a state dinner 
and a speech, an account of which has gone to the Herald by 
cable, and to which I need make no further reference. 

" The next day was given to an excursion up the Hoogly to 
the Viceroy's country seat at Barrackpore. At the last moment 
Lord Lytton found he could not go, and the honors of the day 
were done in his name by Sir Ashley Eden. Barrackpore is 
about twelve miles up the river, and the hour for our departure 
was noon. We drove to the dock under a beating sun and 
■embarked on the Viceroy's yacht. The party was a small one 



586 AROUND THE WORLD. 

— comprising the leading members of the government with their 
families. The scenery along the river reminds you somewhat of 
the low tropical banks of the St. John's, in Florida. The stream 
is narrower and had a gloomy look compared with the Florida 
river, where the orange groves light up the dark green landscape. 
Unlike the St. John's the Hoogly teems with life, with boatmen 
in all kinds of floating contrivances bringing breadstuffs and mer- 
chandise to the Calcutta markets, or carrying home the results 
of the day in the bazaars. Life is so dense in Hindostan that it 
was with difficulty you could tell where the city ended and the 
suburbs began. The navigation of an Indian river must be a 
good deal trusting to fate, for the currents were wayward and 
our vessel was more of a floating hotel than a water-eoing- craft, 
and when we came bumping against the side of a clumsy hulk 
with such force as to tear away some of our iron work and make 
us buzz and tremble, everybody seemed to take it as a matter of 
course. 

" Barrackpore Park had a melancholy prominence in the his- 
tory of the country. It was here that the first spark flew up in 
the incident of the greased cartridges. It is now a military 
station and contains barracks for the accommodation of European 
and native soldiers. Lord Wellesly first selected it as a country 
residence for the Governor General and laid out a park of 270 
acres in groves and gardens. When the Marquis of Hastings 
was Governor General he proposed a series of bungalows for 
the use of the orovernment authorities. The hill stations were 
not so convenient in those days as now, when railroads carry 
you in all directions, and Barrackpore was to have been the sum- 
mer retreat, holding the same relation to the Government House 
in Calcutta that the Soldiers' Home does to the White House 
in Washington. The present house of the Governor General 
was to have been that of one of the secretaries. But the com- 
pany was thrifty and the palace was never built, and Barrackpore 
is the home of the Viceroy when he comes down the river, which 
is not very often, as the stay of the Viceregal court in Calcutta 
is not more than four months in the year, most of the time being 
given to Simla and the cool slopes of the Himalayas. The view 



INDIA. . 587 

of Barrackpore from the river is beautiful, because you see what 
is so rare in India, green rolling meadow land. Were it not for 
the tropical foliage — notably the banyan trees — it would not be 
difficult to fancy that the park of Barrackpore was a bit of Rich- 
mond, near the Thames. We landed from our steamer in a small 
yacht, and had quite a walk under the relentless sun, until we 
came to a marquee tent pitched under a banyan tree, where a band 
was playing and servants were arranging a table for luncheon. 

"We had a merry, pleasant feast under our banyan tree, which 
is one of the most extraordinary forms of nature. This tree was 
in itself a small grove, and you could walk in and around and 
through its trunks and branches as easily as through the columns 
of a mosque. Unless the tree is checked it will spread and 
spread, every branch as it touches the earth seeking a new root 
and throwing out new branches until, as you read in wondering 
nursery days, an army could encamp under its branches sheltered 
from the tempest and the sun. We came back to the city late in 
the afternoon, when the evening shadows had fallen and it was 
pleasant to steam down the river. It was dark before we reached 
the Government House, and we had just time to dress for a state 
dinner, the last to be given by Lord Lytton before leaving Simla. 
This dinner was made the occasion for presenting to General 
Grant the leading members of the native families. We had had 
a reception of this kind in Bombay, but the scene in Calcutta was 
more brilliant. When the dinner was over and Lord Lytton es- 
corted Mrs. Grant to the reception-room, the halls were filled 
with a brilliant and picturesque assembly. A company of native 
gentlemen looks like a fancy dress ball. There is no rule govern- 
ing their costumes. They are as free to choose the color and 
texture of their garments as ladies at home. I cannot but think 
that our heathen friends have learned better than ourselves the 
lesson of dress, especially for the tropics. We swathe ourselves 
in dismal and uncomely black, and here in India, where every 
feather's weight you can lift from your raiment is a blessing to 
your body, the Englishman so lacks in imagination and enterprise 
that he endures the same cloth which he wore in Berkeley Square. 
The natives were in loose gowns of cool, flexible stuffs, that 



5 88 AROUND THE WORLD. 

seemed to play and dally with the heat, and as they streamed 
about in their airy, flowing, fleecy gowns, they looked more sen- 
sible than we civilians in our black evening dress, or the officers 
girded to the throat with scarlet cloth and braid. There is some- 
thin o- for the eye in the varied hues of Indian costumes, and as to 
splendor, I suppose that one of the jewels that hung from the neck 
of the Prince of Oude or the diamond that blazed from the finger 
of one of the rajahs was worth ten times more than all the clothes 
worn by the Europeans. 

"The native gentlemen and princes of high rank were pre- 
sented by the Viceroy to General Grant. Some of these names 
were the foremost in India. Some are deposed princes, or de- 
scendants of deposed princes. Others were Brahmins of high 
caste ; some rich bankers and merchants. The son of the King 
of Oude came with his son. He has an effeminate, weak face. 
On his head he wore a headdress shaped like a crown, and cov- 
ered with p-old foil and lace. The Kinor f Oude lives in Cal- 
cutta, on an allowance of $600,000 a year. He does not come 
near the Government House, partly because he is so fat that he 
cannot move about, except in a chair, more probably because he 
is a kind of state prisoner on account of his supposed sympathies 
with the mutiny. The old King spends a good share of his in- 
come in buying animals. He has a collection of snakes, and is 
fond of a peculiar kind of pigeon. A pigeon with a blue eye 
will bring him good fortune, and if one of his Brahmin priests 
tells him that the posesssion of such a bird is necessary to his 
happiness he buys it. Recently he paid ^1,000 for a pigeon on 
the advice of a holy Brahmin, who, it was rumored, had an inter- 
est in the sale. Not long since the King made a purchase of 
tigers, and was about to buy a new and choice lot, when the Lieu- 
tenant-Governor interfered and said His Majesty had tigers 
enough. My admiration for the kingly office is so profound that 
I like it best in its eccentric aspects, and would have rejoiced to 
have seen so original a majesty. But His Majesty is in seclusion 
with his snakes, his tigers, his pigeons, his priests and his women, 
and sees no one, and we had to be content with seeing his son. 
The Prince seemed forlorn, with his bauble crown, his robes and 



INDIA. 589 

his gems, and hid behind the pillars and in corners of the room, 
and avoided general conversation. Another noted Prince was the 
descendant of Tippoo Soltan, a full-bodied, eager Moslem Prince, 
with a flowing beard and character in the lines of his face. This 
Prince has been in England, talks English well, and is a legal^ 
subject of the Crown. 

" More interesting was the young Prince from Burmah and his 
wife. We have had news from Burmah. The new King has 
taken to evil ways, especially in the murder of his relations. 
They say he has threatened to kill the British Resident in Man- 
dalay, and a force of troops has gone to Burmah to protect the 
Resident. And all Calcutta is horror-stricken over the news. I 
do not know how true it all may be. I have noticed as an in- 
structive coincidence in the history of British rule in Asia that 
some outrage, some menace to British power always takes place 
about the time that the interests of the Empire require more ter- 
ritory. England wants Burmah, and its annexation is foregone. 
But about the murders of his family by the King I suppose there 
can be no doubt. This Prince and Princess are refugees, and 
under the protection of the Viceregal court. The Princess was a 
pretty little lady, with almost European features, and was the 
cynosure of the evening. Mrs. Grant had quite a conversation 
with her, and was struck with her vivacity and intelligence. The 
General conversed with most of the natives present — with all, in- 
deed, w r ho spoke English — and informed the Viceroy that he 
regarded the opportunity of meeting them as among the most 
agreeable and interesting features of his Indian journey. 

" The Viceroy leaves for the hills, and has only remained in 
Calcutta to this time to be able to welcome General Grant. Be- 
fore leaving he had a long and almost affectionate interview with 
the General, who thanked him for the splendor and hospitality of 
our reception in India. It was pleasant for us to meet in Lord 
Lytton a nobleman who not only knew America in a public way, 
but had a familiar acquaintance with Washington City. The 
Capital when Lord Lytton lived there and the Capital to-day are, 
as the General told the Viceroy, very much changed. The flood 
has come. The Viceroy spoke of Everett and Webster and 



590 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Clay and the. men he knew; of ladies and gentlemen who flour- 
ished under Tyler and Fillmore, and were leaders of society, but 
who have vanished. It was pleasant to hear the Viceroy speak 
with so much cordiality and good feeling and appreciation of 
America, and when our talk ran into political questions at home, 
and party lines, it was gratifying to hear him say that he could 
not comprehend how an American who believed in his country 
could sustain any policy that did not confirm and consolidate the 
results of the war. Whatever the merits of the war in the begin- 
ing, the end was to make America an empire, to put our country 





CARVED EAST INDIAN FURNITURE. 



among the great nations of the earth, and such a position was 
now every American's heritage, and the defence of which should 
be his first thought. 

" Lord Ly tton's administration of India will long be remembered. 
I find, in conversing with the people, that opinions widely differ 
as to its character. It was curious to find the strong opinions 
that had been formed for and against the Viceroy. It showed 
that in India political feeling ran as high as at home. The mo- 
ment the Viceroy's name is mentioned in any Indian circle you 



INDIA. 59I 

hear high praise or severe condemnation. It seemed to me that 
an administration of so positive a character as to excite these 
criticisms is sure to make its impression on history, and not fall 
nerveless and dead. The criticisms passed upon Lord Lytton 
were calculated to raise him in the estimation of those who had 
no feelings in Indian affairs, and saw only the work he was doing. 
One burning objection to His Lordship was his decision in a case 
where an Englishman received a nominal sentence for having 
struck a native a blow which caused his death. The blow was 
not intended to kill. It was a hasty, petulant act, and the native, 
ailing from a diseased spleen, fell, and, rupturing his spleen, died. 
The courts treated the matter as an ordinary case of assault and 
battery; held that the native would have died anyhow from the 
diseased spleen, and so allowed the matter to pass without pun- 
ishment. The Viceroy interfered and put a heavy hand on the 
judges, and all official India arose in arms. The idea of this 
young literary man, this poet, this sentimental diplomatist coming 
from the salons of Paris and Lisbon to apply his lackadaisical 
notions to the stern duties of governing an empire in India — such 
a thing; had never been known. How different this man from 
those granite statesmen who blew Sepoys from cannon and 
hanged suspicious characters and saved the Empire! If the right, 
the consecrated right of an Englishman to beat a 'nipper' is 
destroyed, then there is no longer an India. I cannot exaggerate 
the feeling which this incident caused. I heard of it in every 
part of India we visited. Even from the case as presented by 
the critics of the Viceroy it seemed a noble thing to do. I saw 
in it one of the many signs which convince me that India is pass- 
ing from the despotism of a company, who recognized no rights 
but those of large dividends and a surplus revenue, to a govern- 
ment before whom all men have equal justice, and which will see 
that the humblest punkah-wallah is as much protected as the 
proudest peer. When you read the history of India, its sorrow, 
its shame, its oppression, its wrong, it is grateful to see a Viceroy 
resolved to do justice to the humblest at the expense of his 
popularity with the ruling class." 



CHAPTER XV. 



BURMAH AND SI AM. 

Departure of General Grant from India — Voyage to Rangoon — The Simla — Arrival of General 
Grant at Rangoon — Reception by the Authorities — The Pagoda — General Grant leaves 
Rangoon — Voyage down the Straits of Malacca — Penang — Singapore — An Invitation from 
the King of Siam — News from the " Richmond " — General Grant sails for Bangkok — The 
Gulf of Siam — Arrival of General Grant at Bangkok — Almost an Accident — The Venice 
of the East — Reception of General Grant by the Celestial Prince — A Visit to the Regent — 
A Pleasant Interview — The Siamese Government — The Second King — General Grant calls- 
upon the King of Siam — The King returns General Grant's Visit — An Important Interview 
— The King Entertains General Grant at a State Dinner. 



HE visit to Calcutta closed the Indian tour of General 
Grant. " A despatch was received at Calcutta by the 
General," says Mr. Young, in his letter to The Nezv- 
York Herald, " saying that the ' Richmond,' which we had been ex- 
pecting at Galle, had not passed the Suez Canal. All the Gen- 
eral's plans in visiting Asia had been based upon the movements 
of the ' Richmond,' and the hope that she would be at some point 
on the Indian coast by the time he reached Calcutta. Under this 
impression he had accepted invitations to visit Ceylon and Mad- 
ras, and was planning an expedition into the Dutch islands. This 
news led to a sudden and complete change in our plans. The 
General resolved to leave India and move on to China in the first 
steamer. Out of this resolution came our visit to Burmah, a 
country that had not otherwise been in our programme, and 
which we have found to be most interesting. We left Calcutta 
at midnight, on the 1 7th of March, in order to catch the tides in 
the Hoogly, on board the steamer ' Simla,' of the British India 
Navigation Company, commanded by Captain Franks, a young 
and able officer. The 'Simla' was as pleasant and comfortable*- 
as though it had been our own yacht, and our run across the 

Bay of Bengal was over a summer sea. The nights were so 

(592) 



BURMAH AND SIAM. 593 

warm that it was impossible to sleep in our cabins, and we found 
as good accommodations as we could lying about the deck. 

" We sailed up the river to Rangoon, and arrived at the wharf 
about noon. A fierce sun was blazing, and the whole landscape 
seemed baked, so stern was the heat. Rangoon is the principal 
city of Burmah, and seen from the wharf is a low-lying, straggling 
town. Two British men-of-war were in the harbor, who manned 
their yards in honor of the General. All the vessels in the 
stream were dressed, and the jaunty little ' Simla ' streamed with 
flags. The landing was covered with scarlet cloth, and the 
American and British standards were blended. All the town 
seemed to be out, and the river bank was lined with the multi- 
tude who looked on in their passive Oriental fashion at the 
pageant. As soon as our boat came to the wharf, Mr. Aitcheson, 
the Commissioner, came on board, accompanied by Mr. Leish- 
mann, the American Vice Consul, and bade the General welcome 
to Burmah. On landing the General was presented to the lead- 
ing citizens and officials and the officers of the men-of-war. The 
guard of honor presented arms, and we all drove away to Gov- 
ernment House, a pretty, commodious bungalow in the suburbs, 
buried among trees. Mr. Aitcheson, our host, is one of the most 
distinguished officers in the Indian service. He was for some 
time Foreign Secretary at Calcutta. Burmah, however, is already 
one of the most important of the British colonies in Asia, and 
this importance is not diminished by the critical relations between 
British Burmah and the court of the King. Consequently, Eng- 
land requires the best service possible in Burmah, and as a result 
of her policy of sending her wisest men to the most useful places, 
Mr. Aitcheson finds himself in Rangoon. 

" Our days in Rangoon were pleasant. The town is interesting. 
It is Asiatic and at the same time not Indian. You have left 
Hindostan and all the forms of that vivid and extraordinary 
civilization, and you come upon a new people. Here you meet 
John, the inscrutable John, who troubles you so much in California, 
and whose fate is the gravest problem of our day. You see 
Chinese sio-ns on the houses, Chinese workmen on the streets, 

shops where you can drink toddy, and smoke opium. This is 

38 



594 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the first ripple we have seen of that teeming Empire toward 
which we are steering. Politically Burmah is a part of the 
British Empire, but it is really one of the outposts of China, 
and from now until we leave Japan we shall be under the in- 
fluence of China. The Hindoos you meet are from Madras, a 
different type from those we saw on our tour. The Burmese 
look like Chinese to our unskilled eyes, and it is pleasant to see 
women on the streets and in society. The streets are wide and 
rectangular, like those of Philadelphia, and the shade trees are 
grateful. Over the city, on a height, which you can see from 
afar, is a pagoda, one of the most famous in Asia. It is covered 
with gilt, and in the evening, when we first saw it, the sun's rays 
made it dazzling. We knew from the pagoda that in leaving India 
and coming to Burmah we leave the land of Brahma, and come to 
the land of Buddha and that remarkable religion called Buddhism. 
" Our first visit was to the famous pagoda which rests upon 
Rangoon like a crown of gold, its burnished splendor seen from 
afar. The pagoda is in the centre of a park of about two acres, 
around which are fortifications. These fortifications were de- 
fended by the Burmese during their war with the English, and in 
the event of a sudden outbreak or a mutiny or a war would at 
once be occupied. During the Burmese wars the pagoda was 
always used as a fort, and now, in the event of an alarm or an 
invasion or a mutiny, the troops and people would at once take 
possession. Ever since that horrible Sunday afternoon in Meerut, 
when the Sepoys broke out of their barracks, burned every house 
and butchered every woman and child in the European quarter, 
all these Asiatic settlements have a place of refuge to which the 
population can fly. A small guard was on duty as we passed up 
the ragged steps that led to the pagoda. There was an ascent 
of seventy-five feet up a series of steps — a gentle and not a 
tiresome ascent, if you looked carefully and did not stumble 
among the jagged and crumbling stones. On either side of the 
way were devotees at prayers or beggars waiting for their rice, 
or booths where you could buy false pearls, imitation diamonds, 
beads, packages of gold-leaf, flowers and cakes. The trinkets 
and flowers are given as offerings to Buddha. The gold-leaf is 







(595) 



596 AROUND THE WORLD. 

sold for acts of piety. If the devout Buddhist has a little money 
he lays it out on the pagoda. He buys a package of the gold- 
leaf and covers with it some dingy spot on the pagoda, and adds 
his mite to the glory of the temple. No one is so poor that he 
cannot make some offering. We observed several devout Budd- 
hists at work patching the temple with their gold-foil. On the 
top of the temple is an umbrella or cap covered with precious 
stones. This was a royal offering, and was placed here some 
years since with great pomp." 

The travellers did not remain longf at Raneoon, but soon re- 
sumed their voyage down the Straits of Malacca. " It was pleas- 
ant," says Mr. Young, in his letter to The New York Herald, "to 
sail down the Straits of Malacca, and along the coast of Burmah 
in a comfortable and swift steamer called the ' Simla,' commanded 
by Captain Franks. After leaving Rangoon we ran across to the 
little town of Maulmain. Here General Grant and party were 
received by Colonel Duff, the British Commissioner. There was 
a guard of honor at the wharf, and a gathering of what appeared 
to be the whole town. The evening" after we arrived there was 
a dinner given by the Maulmain Volunteer Rifles- — a militia 
organization composed of the merchants of Maulmain and young 
men in the service of the government. This dinner was given 
in the messroom of the company — a little bungalow in the out- 
skirts of the town. The next morning there was a visit to the 
wood yards, where teak wood is sawed and sent as an article of 
commerce into various countries. 

"In taking our leave of our kind friends in Burmah, we were 
taking leave of India. Burmah is under the Calcutta govern- 
ment, and the Straits of Malacca are under the Home Colonial 
government, with a governor at Singapore. These settlements 
are known as ' the Straits Colony.' They were acquired under 
the East Indian Company, the acquisition of Penang, to which 
we sailed on leaving Maulmain, being the work of the celebrated 
Warren Hastings." 

While in Calcutta, General Grant received an autograph let- 
ter from the King of Siam, inviting him to visit that country, and 
from Burmah the travellers proceeded to Singapore. The voy- 
age is thus described by Dr. Keating, one of the party: 



BURMAH AND SIAM. 597 

"I cannot give a better description of our first view of the 
island of Penang than to tell you that it reminded us all of the 
coast of Maine, and the town of Penang itself, consisting of 
about 15,000 people, as it lies at the foot of a range of hills some 
2,700 feet high, on a beautiful little bay, really an aneurism in the 
channel that separates it from the main coast, is strikingly like the 
little town of Bar Harbor on Mt. Desert Island. At a distance 
from the shore, as we lay at anchor in the bay, you cannot detect 
the peculiarities that characterize a tropical climate. The white 
houses (for here they build of granite or brick and then white- 
wash externally), the stone pier with its wooden extension, and 
then the dense vegetation that gives an uninterrupted background 
of dark green from the top of the hill to the water's edge, gives 
you a summer scene in a Yankee village. But how this all 
changes when you approach the shore! You then see that the 
foliage is none other than that of a thick forest of cocoanut palms, 
the trees straight as arrows, of uniform height, and shoot forth 
their beams at the top and combine to form a huge screen that 
shelters the town, in fact the whole island, from the hot tropical 
sun. It was sunset as we entered the little bay; a rich crimson 
glow fell upon eastern water, as the sun sank behind the moun- 
tain that lay to the west of us, and on the various tints spread over 
the bay, till beneath the shadows of the hills the water was of the 
darkest green. Several large ships, dressed with any number of 
flags, which were floating in the first cool breeze we had expe- 
rienced for some days, were in the harbor. French and English 
mail and opium traders were there, and the whole bay was dotted 
with native dinghees that brought passengers from our ship to 
the landing. The native boats are peculiarly built like wedges, 
with the ends at the base turned up, the boatman standing, 
crossing oars, and faces the prow. 

"We anchored out in mid-stream, and, with the ship's glasses, 
took a nearer view of the town. The wharf was tastefully deco- 
rated with scarlet cloth that not only formed a carpet, but was 
spread along the sides of the pier that projected from the stone 
wharf. Palm leaves adorned the archways, and a large American 
flag- waved from the flagstaff at the landing. The wharf was, of 



598 AROUND THE WORLD. 

course, crowded — Chinese, Malays, half castes, lined the shore, 
and a guard of British soldiers were drawn up in double line, 
preparatory to the General's landing. The Government steam 
launch soon came alongside the 'Simla,' with an invitation to 
spend the twenty-four hours that the ship would remain at 
Penang at the Government House upon the hill, which was 
accepted by the General. 

" The house on the top of the hill, well named ' Belleview,' is. 
reached partly by carriage, and the rest by pony or palanquin. It 
is about 2,300 feet above the sea, commands the ocean on three 
sides, and possesses that great desideratum in this part of the 
world of catching any breeze that happens to come that way. 
Some of the party spent the night on shipboard and were any- 
thing but cool ; those that went to the Government House found 
that a light blanket was very comfortable. Though at a distance 
Penang does not look like a tropical place, a closer inspection 
shows one how deceptive distance may become. The whole 
town is surrounded by a forest of palms of all varieties, from the 
cocoanut to the traveller's palm, which, like a large fan placed on 
end, rises out of a thick trunk. Coffee, nutmeg, grow wild by- 
the road-side, and all varieties of flowers, hot-house plants with 
us, here growing into large trees, abound in the woods on the- 
hillside, and adorn in profusion the dinner table in Penang. But, 
as I said in my letter from Rangoon, what strikes one most is 
the freshness of everything — the beautiful grass, the exquisite 
lawns, coming, as we did from India, where, in the north, every- 
thing at this season is parched and dry. Not only is rain abun- 
dant all the year round in the Straits settlement, but Penang is 
additionally fortunate in having mountain streams that supply 
water to the town for drinking and bathing purposes, keep the 
place healthy, and make the vegetation luxuriant. 

" Early the following morning we visited the town, drove to the 
waterfall, drank cocoanut milk, which we all thought rather in- 
sipid — did everything, in fact, that was to be done, and then 
wound up the morning by breakfasting with Chief Justice Wood 
in his pleasant bungalow on the sea. 

"At four o'clock it was announced that a public reception was 



BURMAH AND SIAM. 599 

to be given to General Grant in the Town Hall, when addresses 
were to be presented. Promptly to the minute we all assembled, 
and found the hall beautifully decorated with English, American, 
and Chinese bunting, entwined with evergreens, the whole town 
out in holiday attire. The room was crowded with all the officials 
of the place, the floors and windows packed with a motley crowd, 
and the streets lined — leaving scarcely carriage room — with the 
curious. General Grant and the Chief Justice occupied the plat- 
form, behind which hung an appropriate sentence of welcome, 
gracefully suspended by a large star, the radii made of side arms 
adorned with drapery of American flags. 

"The first address was one of welcome — congratulatory upon 
the national friendship of England and America, and the promi- 
nent part taken by General Grant's administration in promoting 
it from the Board of Trade. On the left side of the room a 
number of the leading and wealthy Chinese merchants were 
assembled, dressed in their full-dress costume, keeping up a con- 
tinuous breeze with their enormous fans, to the envy of the rest 
of the audience, who were doing full justice to the weather by 
actively perspiring. From among the group one venerable gen- 
tleman stepped forward and presented to the General a large 
envelope of red silk, that contained an address written on scarlet 
paper, to which was appended a translation. They represented 
their delight at being the first of their countrymen to welcome 
the General, wished him a pleasant trip to their native country, 
and asked him to use his influence in favor of Chinese emigration 
to the United States. 

" In a few impromptu remarks the General explained to them 
the whole subject of Chinese emigration, told them that by 
contract labor their position was one of quondam slavery, that 
legislation was directed for the most part and supported by the 
best people of our country to the mode of emigration enforced 
by the Chinese companies ; that our country was a free one in 
all respects, open to any man who wished to come of his own 
accord, and be subject to our laws, and become a good citizen. 
I have rarely listened to a speech that was more to the point, 
clear, plain, and in language better chosen. 



600 AROUND THE WORLD. 

"At six o'clock the 'Simla' weighed anchor, and we steamed 
out of the little bay — out once more to sea, bound for Malacca. 

"On March 31st, at six a. m., we came in sight of the little 
town of Malacca. The principal object seen from the steamer's 
anchorage is the hill at the foot of which the little town is situ- 
ated. The hill itself is not more than 300 or 400 feet high, on 
the top of which is what remains of an old cathedral and portions 
of the massive stone walls, and a few very old tombs, dating 
back 300 years. 

" Malacca exports a large quantity of block-tin from rich 
mines in the interior. The inhabitants are Malays and Chinese 
for the most part, very few Europeans, and some of the descend- 
ants of the early Portuguese settlers. Captain Edwards, of H. 
M. S. ' Kistrel,' in the harbor, came aboard and took us ashore 
to visit the town. The place possesses no telegraphic communi- 
cation, so it was only after our arrival that the Governor, Captain 
Shaw, R. N., who resides some miles out in the country, knew 
of General Grant's coming, and he at once hastened to welcome 
him. 

"At two p. m. we once more started. Our destination was 
now Singapore. It was indeed with much regret that we pre- 
pared to leave the good ship and her genial captain, that had 
carried us over 2,200 miles — for the most part her only passen- 
gers. The whole trip had been for us more like a yachting 
expedition, without a single drawback. 

"At daybreak of April 1st we were all up on the bridge to see 
the entrance to the harbor of Singapore. There are several 
channels between the many islands of this group that lie south of 
the Malay peninsula, but the one that was chosen by Captain 
Frank for an entrance was the most beautiful. The passage 
that connected the Bay of Bengal with the China Sea was tortuous 
and narrow — at first so narrow in fact that two ships could just 
pass, and from either one a jump could reach the shore. On the 
right of us were the numerous channel islands of various sizes ; 
on the left the island of Singapore. The entrance is guarded by 
a fortification about being- finished. Winding in and out the 
scenery is beautiful, for the vegetation is rich beyond expression, 



BURMAH AND SI AM. 6oi 

with every shade of green being- represented. It is not until the 
little bay is reached that the town itself comes into view. Then 
suddenly hundreds of crafts riding their anchors, previously 
hidden, burst upon our view, and the pretty little town, with its 
church spires and its public buildings, was seen close to the 
water's edge. This was indeed a pretty sight, for as the guns 
signalling, our cannons were fired from the port, flags ran up to 
the tops of every mast, until the whole bay seemed rejoicing with 
streamers and bunting." 

From Singapore General Grant decided to visit Bangkok, the 
capital of Siam. " The question of the General's visit to Siam," 
says Mr. Young, in his letter to The New York Herald, "was 
for some days in abeyance. It was out of our way to China and 
the means of communication were irregular, and none of us took 
any special interest in Siam — our available knowledge of the 
country being that there were once famous Siamese twins. But 
in Singapore we met many merchants and prominent authorities 
who had been in Siam, and the universal testimony was that a 
visit around the world would be incomplete unless it included 
that most interesting country. Then on landing at Singapore 
our Consul, Major Struder, met the General with a letter from 
the King of Siam — a letter enclosed in an envelope made of blue 
satin. The text of the letter was as follows : 

The Grand Palace, Bangkok, 4th Feb., 1879. 
My Dear Sir — Having heard from my Minister for Foreign Affairs, on the 
authority of the United States Consul, that you are expected in Singapore on 
your way to Bangkok, I beg to express the pleasure I shall have in making your 
acquaintance. Possibly you may arrive in Bangkok during my absence at my 
country residence, Bang Pa In. In which case a steamer will be placed at your 
disposal to bring you to me. On arrival I beg you to communicate with His 
Excellency, my Minister for Foreign Affairs, who will arrange for your recep- 
tion and entertainment. Yours Very truly, 

CHULAHLONGKORN, R. S. 
To General Grant, late President of the United States. 

" The letter of the King, which he had taken the trouble to 
send all the way to Singapore, added to the opinion expressed by 
the General that when people really go around the world they 



602 AROUND THE WORLD. 

miorit as well see what is to be seen, decided the visit to Siarm 
A despatch had been received from Captain Benham, command- 
ing the ' Richmond,' that he would be at Galle on the 1 2th, which 
would enable him to reach Singapore about the time that we 
would return from Siam. So a letter was addressed to Captain 
Benham, asking him to await us by stopping at Singapore, and 
our party prepared for Siam. 

"A heavy rain — how it rained and rained and rained ! — swept 
over Singapore as we embarked on the small steamer ' Kong-See' 
about nine in the morning of the 9th of April. Our kind friends, 
Colonel Anson, the Governor; Mr. Smith, the Colonial Secretary ; 
Major Struder, the American Consul — who had been with the 
General at Shiloh — accompanied us to the vessel, where they took 
leave, and at once we went to sea. The rain remained with the 
Singapore hills as we parted from them, and a smooth sea was at 
our bidding. The run to Bangkok is set down at four days, and 
sometimes there are severe storms in the Gulf of Siam ; but for- 
tune was with us in this, as it has, indeed, been with us, so far as 
weather at sea is concerned, ever since we left Marseilles. We 
sat on the deck at night and looked at the Southern Cross, 
which is a disappointment as a constellation, and not to be com- 
pared, as some of our Philadelphia friends remarked, with our 
old-fashioned home constellations, which shine down upon you 
and abash you with their glory, and do not have to be picked out 
after a careful search and made into a cross by a vivid imagina- 
tion. The evening of our sailing, some one happened to remem- 
ber, was the anniversary of the surrender of Lee — fourteen years 
ago to-day — and the hero of the surrender was sitting on the 
deck of a small steamer, smoking and looking at the clouds, and 
gravely arguing Mr. Borie out of a purpose which some one has 
wickedly charged him with entertaining — the purpose of visiting 
Australia and New Zealand and New Guinea, and spending the 
summer and winter in the Pacific Ocean. 

"The weather in the Gulf of Siam, which I have just been 
praising, is capricious. The days, as a general thing, were pleas- 
ant, but squalls and storms came up without warning, and sent 
movable commodities, books, and newspapers flying about the 



BURMAH AND SIAM. 603:, 

deck. In these equatorial regions one of the comforts of exist- 
ence is to sleep on deck, and shortly after the sun goes down 
your servant pitches your bed in some corner of the deck, near 
the wheel or against a coil of rope. Mr. Borie was induced to 
buy an extraordinary machine, made in the Rangoon Jail, called 
a portable bed, which is unlike anything civilization has ever 
known in the shape of a bed. It comes together and unfolds, 
and is so intricate that it must have been made by a Chinaman. 
I do not. think any of us really understand the principles upon 
which it is constructed. But, in the evening, Peter and Kassim 
and other servants parade the bed on deck and chatter over it a 
little while, and it becomes sleepable. The rest of the party take 
the floor. The General and Mrs. Grant bivouac on the ri^ht of 
the wheel ; the Colonel has his encampment near the gangway. 
The Doctor lies cosily under the binnacles, and my own quarters 
are in the stern, where the ropes are coiled. But sleeping on 
deck in the Gulf of Siam is not as pleasant as we found it in the 
Bay of Bengal. On our first night out, being after midnight, 
Kassim came with the news that it was going to rain. Kassim 
has a terror of the sea — the Hindoo fear of the black water — and 
ever since he has been on board ship his bearing is that of one 
who lives in fear of some immense and immediate peril. So,, 
when Kassim woke me up with news of the rain, I was not quite 
sure from his manner whether we were not running into a cyclone 
or one of those tremendous gales that so often sweep around the 
coast of Asia. The clouds looked black and the stars had gone, 
and a few drops of rain came over the face, and the sea was in a 
light, easy, waltzing humor. Some of the party had already left 
the deck. The Doctor had fled on the first rumor, and Mrs. Grant 
was already in refuge in the Cabin. The captain was leaning over 
the taffrail looking at the skies. We took his counsel, and his 
assurance was that it was only the wind and there would be no 
rain. So we resumed our quarters, and Mr. Borie, who was 
already in retreat, with Peter in the rear in command of his won- 
derful bed, halted. For what could be more grateful than the 4 
winds, the cooling winds, that sweep through the rigging and 
toss your hair, and make you draw the folds of your shawl around. 



604 AROUND THE WORLD. 

you ? And there was a disposition to scoff those who, at the note 
of alarm from a frightened Hindoo, had left the comfortable deck 
to sweat and toss in a stifling cabin. But, in an instant, so treacher- 
ous are these Southern skies, the rain came in torrents, sweeping 
over the deck, streaming and pouring — a fierce, incessant rain, 
with lightning. So our retreat became a rout. 

" On the morning of the 14th of April land was around us, and 
there was a calm, smooth sea. At ten we came to the bar, where 
we were to expect a steamer — or a tug. We all doffed our ship 
garments and came out in ceremonious attires to meet our friends 
the Siamese. But there was no crossing the bar, and for hours 
and hours we waited and no steamer came. It seems that we 
had made so rapid a trip that no one was expecting us, and there 
we were in the mud, on a bar, and Siam before us, within an 
hour's sail of Paknam. The day passed and the night came, and 
at ten the tides would be high and we would slip over the mud 
and be at our anchorage at eleven, and up to Bangkok in the cool 
of the morning, always so precious an advantage in Eastern 
travel. At nine we began to move, under the guidance of a 
pilot, and after moving about for an hour or so, to the disap- 
pointment of those of us on deck, who watched the lights on 
shore and were impatient for Paknam, we heard the engines re- 
verse, we felt the ship back with throbbing speed, and, in a few 
minutes, the grumbling of the cable as the anchor leaped into the 
water. There was no Paknam, no Siam, for that night. The 
pilot had lost his way, and, instead of a channel, we were rapidly 
going on shore, when the captain discovered the error and stopped 
his ship. Well, this was a disappointment, and largely confirma- 
tory of the views shared by some of us that Providence never 
would smile on our trip to Siam ; but the rain came and the sea 
became angry and chopping, and rain and sea came into the berths, 
and all we could do was to cluster in the small cabin. We found 
then that our foolish pilot had taken us away out of our course, that 
we were on a mud-bank, that it was a mercy we had not gone 
ashore, and that unless the royal yacht came for us there we 
would remain another day. About nine in the morning the news 
was passed that the royal yacht was coming, and about ten she 



BURMAH AND SIAM. 605 

anchored within a cable length, a long, stately craft, with the 
American colors at the fore and the royal colors of Siam at the 
main. A boat came out to us, conveying Mr. Sickels, our Con- 
sul ; the son of the Foreign Minister, representing the Siamese 
government, and an aide of the King. Mr, Sickels presented 
the Siamese officials to the General, and the King's aide handed 
him the following letter 5 enclosed in an envelope of yellow satin: 

A ROYAL LETTER OF WELCOME. 

The Grand Palace, Bangkok, April 11, 1879. 
Sir : I have very great pleasure in welcoming you to Siam. It is, I am in- 
formed, your pleasure that your reception should be a private one ; but you must 
permit me to show, as far as I can, the high esteem in which I hold the most 
eminent citizen of that great nation which has been so friendly to Siam, and so 
kind and just in all its intercourse with the nations of the far East. 

That you may be near me during your stay I have commanded my brother, 
His Royal Highness the Celestial Prince Bhanurangsi Swangwongse, to pre- 
pare rooms for you and your party in the Saranrom Palace, close to my palace, 
and I most cordially invite you, Mrs. Grant and your party at once to take up 
your residence there, and my brother will represent me as your host. 

Your friend, 

CHULAHLONGKORN, R. S 
His Excellency General Grant, late President of the United States. 

" We went on board the royal yacht in a fierce sea and under a 
pouring rain. There was almost an accident as the boat contain- 
ing the General, Mrs. Grant and Mr. Borie came alongside. The 
high sea dashed the boat against the paddle wheels of the yacht, 
which were in motion. The movement of the paddle pressed 
the boat under the water, the efforts of the boatmen to extricate 
it were unavailing, and it seemed for a few minutes as if it would, 
founder. But it righted, and the members of the party were 
taken on deck drenched with the sea and rain. This vero-ino- 

o o 

upon an accident had enough of the spirit of adventure about it 
to make it a theme of the day's conversation, and we compli- 
mented Mrs. Grant upon her calmness and fortitude at a time 
when it seemed inevitable that she would be plunged into the 
sea under the moving paddles of a steamer. Even the rain was 
tolerable after so serious an experience, and it rained all the way 
up the river. Paknam was the first point at which we stopped,. 



<6o6 AROUND THE WORLD. 

and then only long enough to send a despatch to the King that 
the General had arrived and was now on his way to Bangkok. 
Paknam is a collection of small huts or bamboo houses built on 
lop's. The river on which it is built is called the Meinam, and it 
rises so high, especially in the rainy season when the floods come, 
that houses become islands, and there is no way of moving ex- 
cept in boats. Opposite the town is a small island containing a 
pagoda in which is buried the ashes of some of the ancient kings 
of Siam. The rain obscured our view of the river as we slowly 
steamed up, the distance from Bangkok to the mouth being about 
eieht leagues from the sea. The banks were low, the vegetation 
dense and preen and running down into the water. The land 
seemed to overhang the water, and the foliage to droop and 
trail in it, very much as you see it on the St. John's river in 
Florida, or some of the bayous in Louisiana. 

"We came to Bangkok late in the afternoon. The rain lulled 
enough to allow us to see at its best this curious city. Our first 
view was of the houses of the consuls. The Siamese government 
provides houses for the foreign consuls, and they all front on the 
river, with large and pleasant grounds about them, and flagstaffs 
from which flags are floating. We stopped in front of the 
American Consulate long enough to allow Miss Struder, who 
had been a fellow-passenger from Singapore, to go on shore, 
and the Vice Consul, Mr. Torrey, to come on board and pay his 
respects to the General. Then we kept on for two or three 
miles until we came to our landing in front of the International 
Court House. Bangkok seems to be a city composed of houses 
lininp; two banks of a river. It contains, according to some au- 
thorities, half a million of people, but census statistics in the East 
are not to be depended upon. It would not have surprised me 
if I had been told that there were a million of souls housed in that 
long and teeming bank of huts and houses through which we 
kept steaming and steaming until it seemed as if the town would 
never end. All varieties of huts lined the shore. Small vessels, 
like the Venetian gondola, moved up and down, propelled by 
boatmen, who paddled with small paddles, accompanying their 
work with a short, gasping shout, ' Wah, wah, wah.' Close to 



BURMAH AND SIAM. 607 

the water's edge were floating houses — houses built on rafts — 
meant to rise and fall with the tide, and which the owner could 
unship and take away if his neighbors became disagreeable. 
Most of these floating houses were occupied by Chinese mer- 
chants, who had their wares, crockery, cloths, pottery, bamboo 
chairs and fruits arranged, while they sat squatted on the floor 
smoking small pipes, with no garments but loosely fitting trousers 
— smoking opium, I suppose, and looking out for customers. 
Each house has an inscription on tinted paper, generally scarlet 
printed with gold — a legend, or a proverb, or a compliment. 
Chinese junks are at anchor, and, as you look at the huge, mis- 
shapen craft, you have a renewed sense of the providence of 
God that such machines can go and come on the sea. The prow 
of each vessel has two large, glaring, grotesque eyes — it being a 
legend of the Chinese mariner that two eyes are as necessary to 
a ship as to a man. Boats are paddled slowly along in which are 
persons wearing yellow garments, with closely-shaven crowns. 
These are priests of the Buddhist faith, who wear yellow as a 
sacred color, and who are now on their way to some temple, or 
more likely to beg. Above these dense lines of huts and float- 
ing houses you see the towers of the city, notably the great 
pagoda, one of the wonders of the East, a mass of mosaic, 
marbles and precious stones, from which the three-headed 
elephant sacred to Siam and the transmigration of the Lord 
Buddha looks down upon the city, keeping watch and ward 
over the faithful. 

" You are told that Bangkok is the Venice of the East, which 
means that it is a city of canals. When the tides are high you 
go in all directions in boats. Your Broadway is a canal. You 
go shopping in a boat. You stroll in your covered gondola 
lying prone on your back, sheltered from the sun, dozing the 
fierce, warm hours away, while your boatmen and other boatmen 
passing and re-passing shout their plaintive ' Wah-wah.' You 
see the house of the Foreign Minister, a palace with a terrace, a 
veranda and a covered way sloping toward the river. You see 
a mass of towers and roofs surrounded by a wall. This is the 
palace of the first King, the supreme King, of Siam. Beyond is 



608 AROUND THE WORLD. 

another mass of towers and roofs where resides the second King. 
Happy Siam has two sovereigns — a first King who does every- 
thing, whose power is absolute, and a second King who does 
nothing except draw a large income. This second King, oddly 
enough, is named George Washington, having been so named by 
his father, who admired Americans. Finally we come to the 
royal landing and we note that the banks are lined with soldiers. 
The preparations for the reception of the General have been 
made with so much care that I attach to this letter a copy of the 
royal order defining even to the most minute incident the manner 
of the General's entertainment. We learn from our Consul that 
His Majesty has taken the deepest interest in the coming of 
General Grant. It is customary in Siam to entertain all distin- 
guished visitors in a building known as the Ambassador's Palace, 
a fine building near the European quarter. It was here the King 
entertained Sir William Robinson, the Governor of the Straits 
settlements, when he came last November to confer upon the 
King the English order of the Grand Cross of St. Michael and 
St. George. That reception was famous for the hospitality 
shown to the British envoy. But the King, wishing to do Gen- 
eral Grant greater honor, gave him a palace and assigned his 
brother, one of the Celestial princes, with a retinue of other 
princes and noblemen, to attend upon him and minister to his 
entertainment. 

"At four o'clock the General embarked on a royal gondola, 
which, in the programme, you will see is seven fathoms long. He 
was slowly pulled to shore. The guard presented arms, the 
cavalry escort wheeled into line, the band played ' Hail, Colum- 
bia.' On ascending the stairs Mr. Alabaster, the royal interpre- 
ter; Captain Bush, an English officer commanding the Siamese 
Navy, and a brilliant retinue were in waiting. The Foreign Min- 
ister advanced and welcomed the General to Siam and presented 
him to the other members of the suite. Then entering carriages 
the General and party were driven to the Palace of Hwang 
Saranrom, the home of His Royal Highness the Celestial Prince 
Bhanurangsi Swangwongse. As we drove past the barracks the 
artillery were drawn up in battery and the cannon rolled out a 



BURMAH AND SIAM. 609 

salute of twenty-one guns. On reaching the palace a guard was 
drawn up and another band played the American national air. 
At the gate of the palace Phra Sri Dhammason, of the foreign 
office, met the General and escorted him to the door of the 
palace. Here he was met by His Excellency Phya Bashakara- 
wangse, the King's private secretary, and a nobleman of rank 
corresponding to that of an English earl. At the head of the 
marble steps was His Royal Highness the Celestial Prince, wear- 
ing the decorations of the Siamese orders of nobility, surrounded 
by other princes of a lesser rank and the members of his house- 
hold. Advancing, he shook hands with the General, and, offer- 
ing his arm to Mrs. Grant, led the party to the grand audience- 
chamber. Here all the party were presented to the Prince and 
there was a short conversation. The Celestial Prince is a young 
man about twenty, with a clear, expressive face, who speaks 
English fairly well, but, during our interview, spoke Siamese, 
through Mr. Alabaster, who acted as interpreter. The Prince 
lamented the weather, which was untimely and severe. How- 
ever, it would be a blessing to the country and the people, and 
His Royal Highness added a compliment that was Oriental in its 
delicacy when he said that the blessing of the rain was a blessing 
which General Grant had brought with him to Siam. The Prince 
then said that this palace was the General's home, and he had 
been commanded by the King, his brother, to say that anything 
in the kingdom that would contribute to the happiness, comfort, 
or the honor of General Grant was at his disposal. The Prince 
entered into conversation with Mrs. Grant and the members of 
the General's party. The General expressed himself delighted 
with the cordiality of his welcome, and said he had been anxious 
to see Siam, and he would have regretted his inability to do so. 
The Prince offered his arm to Mrs. Grant and escorted her and 
the General to their apartments, while the members of his suite 
assigned the remainder of the party to the quarters we were to 
occupy while we lived in the capital of Siam. 

"The evening was passed quietly, the General and party 
dining quietly with the Celestial Prince. The programme I 

attach to this letter was submitted to General Grant, who 
39 



6io 



AROUND THE WORLD. 



regretted his inability to follow the whole of it. Not being on 
his own ship (the ' Richmond '), which would have awaited his 
convenience, the General was compelled to return to Singapore 
on the ordinary mail steamer, which, leaving on Friday, only left 
him five days for Bangkok. So one or two dinners were elimi- 
nated, the visits to the temples and elephants massed into one 




BUDDHIST PRIESTS. 



day, and a run up the river to Ayuthia, the old capital of Siam, 
added. I do not think there was much disappointment in the 
General's mind as to cutting down the time devoted to temples, 
and there would have been little difficulty in cutting down the 
programme to two days so far as seeing sights was concerned. 
Added to this was the rain, the severe incessant rain, which 



BURMAH AND SIAM. 6 1 1 

streamed into the court-yard of the palace and beat in at the win- 
dows, and gave us a humid, mildewed sensation. On the morning 
after our arrival a visit was made to the ex-Regent. This aged 
statesman is one of the leading men in Siam, the first nobleman 
in the realm in influence and authority. He was the intimate 
friend and counsellor of the late King. He governed the king- 
dom during the minority of the present sovereign. It was 
through his influence that the accession of His Majesty was 
secured without question or mutiny. He is now the chief of 
the Council of State, and governs several provinces of Siam with 
the power of life and death. His voice in council is potent, 
partly because of his rank and experience, partly because of his 
old age, which is always respected in Siam. Our journey to the 
Regent's was in boats in Venetian fashion, and after a half-hour's 
pulling down one canal and up another and across the river to a 
third canal, and up that to a fourth, we came to a large and roomy 
palace shaded with trees. I observed as we passed that there were 
few boatmen on the river — none of that business life and anima- 
tion which we had observed on landing. I was told that orders 
had been given by the King that the canals and the river should 
be kept free from trading craft and other vessels at the hours 
set down in the programme for the official visits. As a con- 
sequence whenever we took to our boats we pulled along at a 
rapid pace with no chance of collision. At the same time the 
river life was so bright and new and varied that we should almost 
have preferred it, at the risk of a collision, to the silence which 
reigned over everything whenever we went forth on the waters. 
"As our boat pulled up to the foot of the palace the ex-Regent, 
his breast bearing many orders, was waiting to receive the Gen- 
eral. He was accompanied by Mr. Chandler, an American gen- 
tleman who has spent many years in Siam, and knows the language 
perfectly. The ex-Regent is a small, spare man, with a clean-cut, 
well-shaped head, and a face reminding you in its outlines and 
the general set of the countenance of the late M. Thiers. It 
lacked the vivacity which was the characteristic of M. Thiers, and 
was a grave and serious face. He advanced, shook hands with 
the General, and, taking his hand, led him up-stairs to the audi- 



6 1 2 AROUND THE WORLD. 

ence-room of the palace. A guard of honor presented arms, the 
band played the ' Star-Spangled Banner,' which was the first time 
we had heard that air in the East, all the other bands we had en- 
countered laboring under the delusion that our national air was 
' Hail, Columbia.' As the General does not know the one tune 
from the other it never made much difference as far as he was 
concerned, and I attributed the latter knowledge on the subject in 
Siam to the prevalence of American ideas, which, thanks to our 
missionary friends and in spite of some wretched consuls who 
have disgraced our service and dishonored the national fame, is 
more marked than we had supposed. The Regent led us into 
his audience-hall, and, placing General Grant on his right, we all 
ranged ourselves about him on chairs. An audience with an 
Eastern prince is a serious and a solemn matter. It reminded 
me somewhat of the Friends' meetings I used to attend in Phila- 
delphia years and years ago, when the brethren were in medita- 
tion and waiting for the influence of the Holy Spirit. The Siamese 
is a grave person. He shows you honor by speaking slowly, say- 
ing little, and making pauses between his speeches. He eschews 
rapid and flippant speech, and a gay, easy talker would give 
offence. I need not say that this custom placed the General in 
an advantageous position. After you take your seat servants 
begin to float around. They bring you tea in small china cups — 
tea of a delicate and pure flavor, and unlike our own attempts 
in that direction. They bring you cigars, and in the tobacco 
way we noted a cigarette with a leaf made out of the banana 
plant, which felt like velvet between the lips, and is an improve- 
ment in the tobacco way which even the ripe culture of America 
on the tobacco question could with advantage accept. In Siam 
you can smoke in every place and before every presence except 
in the presence of the King — another custom which, I need 
hardly add, gave the General an advantage. The Regent, after 
some meditation, spoke of the great pleasure it had given him to 
meet General Grant in Siam. He had lonsf known and valued 
the friendship of the United States, and he was sensible of the 
good that had been done to Siam by the counsel and the enter- 
prise of the Americans who had lived there. 



BURMAH AND SIAM. 613 

"The General thanked the Regent, and was glad to know that 
his country was so much esteemed in the East. There was a 
pause and a cup of the enticing tea and some remarks on the 
weather. The General expressed a desire to know whether the 
unusual rain would affect the crops throughout the country. The 
Regent said there was no such apprehension, and there was 
another pause, while the velvet-coated cigarettes and cigars 
passed into general circulation. The General spoke of the value 
to Siam and to all countries in the East of the widest commer- 
cial intercourse with nations of the outer world, and that from all 
he could learn of the Siamese and the character of their re- 
sources, any extension of relations with other nations would be 
a gain to them. His Highness listened to this speech as Mr. 
Chandler translated it in a slow, deliberate way, standing in 
front of the Regent and intoning it almost as though it were a 
lesson from the morning service. Then there was another pause, 
and some of us took more comfort out of the tea. Then the 
Regent responded: 'Siam,' he said, 'was a peculiar country. It 
was away from sympathy and communion with the greater 
nations. It was not in one of the great highways of commerce. 
Its people were not warlike nor aggressive. It had no desire to 
share in the strifes and wars of other nations. It existed by the 
friendship of the great Powers. His policy had always been to 
cultivate that friendship, to do nothing to offend any foreign 
Power, to avoid controversy or pretexts for intervention by 
making every concession. This might look like timidity, but it 
was policy. Siam alone could do nothing against the great 
Powers. She valued her independence and her institutions and 
the position she had maintained ; therefore she was always willing 
to meet every nation in a friendly spirit. Nor should the outside 
nations expect too much from Siam, nor be impatient with her 
for not adopting their ideas rapidly enough. Siam had her own 
ideas, and they had come down to the present generation from 
many generations. He was himself conservative on the subject. 
What he valued in the relations of Siam with America was the 
unvarying sense of justice on the part of America, and as the 
hopes of Siam rested wholly on the good will of foreign Powers, 
she was especially drawn to America.' 



614 AROUND THE WORLD. 

"All this was spoken slowly, deliberately, as if every sentence 
was weighed, the old Minister speaking slowly, like one in medi- 
tation. I have endeavored to give it as accurately as I can 
remember, because it seemed to have unusual significance and 
made a deep impression upon our party — the impression that he 
who spoke was one in authority and a statesman. After further 
talk the Regent addressed himself to Mr. Borie and asked him 
his age. Mr. Borie answered that he was sixty-nine. 'I am 
seventy-two,' said the Regent; 'but you look much older.' It is 
a custom in Siamese when you wish to pay a compliment to an 
elderly person to tell him how old he looks, to compliment him 
on his gray hairs and the lines in his brow. It may have been a 
partial estimate on our part, but Mr. Borie certainly looked ten 
years younger than the Regent. In speaking with Mr. Borie the 
Regent became almost playful. 'You must not have the trouble 
of a navy in another war.' Mr. Borie expressed his horror of 
war, and added that America had had enough of it. 'At our 
time of life,' said the Regent, putting his hand on Mr. Borie's 
shoulder in a half-playful, half-affectionate manner, 'we need re- 
pose and that our lives should be made smooth and free from 
care, and we should not be burdened with authority or grave 
responsibilities. That belongs to the others. I hope you will 
be spared any cares.' This practically closed the interview, and 
the Regent, taking the hand of the General in his own, in Orien- 
tal fashion, led him down-stairs and across the entrance way to 
the boat, the troops saluting and the band playing. Then he 
took a cordial farewell of Mr. Borie, telling him he was a brave 
man to venture around the world with the burden of so many 
years upon him. 

" The government of Siam is an absolute monarchy, perhaps 
the most absolute in the world. All power comes from the King. 
He commands the army, the navy, the treasury, and can dispose 
as he pleases of the lives and property of his subjects. He ad- 
ministers the government by the advice of a Council of Ministers, 
at the head of whom is the Regent. Custom goes far in govern- 
ment; and in absolute monarchies, where there is a religion of 
custom like Buddhism, there grows up a kind of common law, as 



BURMAH AND SIAM. 615 

much regarded by king, priest, and people, as the common law 
of England by the English people. Therefore, while in theory 
and if he so chose to in fact, the King, in the exercise of his sov- 
ereign rights, could do what he pleased, if he did anything dis- 
pleasing to the high nobles and the Council there would be 
trouble. The power of the King has also been limited by the 
creation of the Council of Ministers, which was the work of the 
Regent, and was intended to advise and restrain the King during 
his minority. Its influence has not died away with the growth of 
the King in years and wisdom. Every important measure in 
government goes to the Council, and the King finds, as has been 
found in other monarchical nations, the great value of a body of 
experienced advisers upon whose wisdom and loyalty he can de- 
pend. There exists also in Siam another institution, that of 
second King. 

"This is a curious fact. The office of king one would suppose 
implied in itself the impossibility of a rival. In Siam the second 
King is a person and an authority, entitled to royal honors, living 
in a palace, with troops, a court, a harem, and a foreign minister. 
He has an income from the State of $300,000 a year. Of author- 
ity he has none beyond the management of his household and 
the command of troops in certain of the provinces. I supposed 
that the real value of the office is the value that we give to the 
Vice-Presidency, that in the event of the sudden death of the 
King the power would pass to the second, and the functions of 
state would go on, the second King becoming the first and an- 
other prince succeeding to his station. It has not proved so in 
Siam. The first King has, as a general thing, survived the second 
in every case thus far, and the struggle between the two sover- 
eignties is one of the incidents in the politics of Siam. I was told 
of the first King's party and the second King's party, and people 
took sides, just as at home they do in politics. How there could 
be a party for the second King that did not mean the deposition 
of the first and treason to the crown was a puzzle, and the fact 
that there was such a party gave me a favorable opinion of the 
toleration of the Siamese rule. 

"What militates against the second King's authority and his 



6l6 AROUND THE WORLD. 

claims to the succession is that he is not a celestial prince. In a 
nation where polygamy is the custom, and where a nobleman 
feels himself honored if the sovereign accepts his daughter as a 
member of the royal household, there will naturally be many 
princes descended from the kings. There is a difference in 
princes. The ordinary prince is the King's son by any mother 
he selects. The celestial prince must have a mother of royal 
descent, and no one can be sovereign who is not celestial. The 
present King's wife is a celestial princess, his own half-sister, and 
of celestial princes there are, I believe, only four — the King's 
uncle, his two brothers, and his son. The difference between a 
celestial prince and one of the ordinary sinews is as great as the 
difference between the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of St. 
Albans. The Siamese lay as much stress upon these distinctions 
as the European nations, the difficulty being that, not having a 
series of royal families to select from, the sovereigns are com- 
pelled to marry in close ties of consanguinity. It happens that 
the second King is not a celestial prince, only one of ordinary 
tissue, and the fact that he holds the position next to the sover- 
eign, that the honors paid him are royal, that on all occasions 
of ceremony he precedes every one but the sovereign, is as great 
an annoyance to the celestial princes as it would be to the chil- 
dren of Queen Victoria if they saw a descendant of Nell Gwynne 
preceding the Prince of Wales. I suppose there would be no 
difficulty in allaying the ambition of the second King and adjust- 
ing his office more logically to the royal system were it not for 
the support given him by the British Consul-General. 

"The second King, therefore, is a political influence in Siam — 
great, because behind him is the supposed power of England. 
Take that power away and I presume His Majesty would be 
ranked among the nobles, allowed the position of a duke, given 
his place after the royal family, and the present office would be 
eliminated altogether from the government of Siam. It certainly 
seems to be an expensive and an almost useless function, one 
that might readily be absorbed into the royal office with a gain to 
the treasury and no loss to the State. The prince who holds the 
position is in his fortieth year and a gentleman of intelligence. 



BURMAH AND SIAM. 617 

Colonel Grant and myself made an informal call upon him at his 
palace, after our party had made and received visits of ceremony. 
We drove over late in the afternoon, and were received by an 
officer of the household and ushered into a covered room, which 
was really a marble platform, with pillars and a roof. Here was 
a table and tea. Here, we are told, His Majesty came to sit and 
converse with his friends when they visited him informally. The 
palace is a series of houses, gardens, grottos, fish-ponds, and 
walks, not in the best state of repair, and looking like an old- 
fashioned mansion. It occurred to us that there was not much 
money expended by the government upon the palace of the 
second King, and it bore an aspect of decay. In a few moments 
His Majesty appeared and gave us a cordial greeting. An ill- 
ness in his limbs gives him a slow, shuffling gait, and he told us 
he had not been in the upper story of his palace for a year. We 
sat under the canopy and talked about America and Siam. No 
allusion was made to any political question, the King saying that 
he gave most of his time to science and study. Having a nomi- 
nal authority in the State, he has time enough for the most ab- 
struse calculations. He took us to his chemical laboratory and 
showed us a large and valuable collection of minerals, ores, and 
preparations. From what we saw in the way of minerals, Siam 
must be a rich country. In another room were the electrical 
instruments. In another was a turning-wheel and some unfin- 
ished work in ivory well done. There were furnaces for baking 
clay, and the King showed us some ceramic work which had been 
done in the palace, the designs painted by Siamese artists, and 
illustrating Siamese subjects. Then we were shown a curious 
museum of Siamese and Chinese antiquities that had come down 
from various dynasties, some of rare beauty. On all of the sub- 
jects connected with the development of the arts and sciences, 
His Majesty conversed with great freedom and intelligence. His 
life would seem to be a happy one, away from the cares of State, 
with the pageantry, without the perils, of power, following the 
pursuits of culture, devoting himself to the material development 
of the nation. But, from all I could learn, there was a fever in 
Siamese politics — a fever arising from ambition — that took away 



6l8 AROUND THE WORLD. 

from the comfort of this auxiliary throne. The King seemed sad 
and tired in his manner, as if he would like really to be employed, 
as if he felt that when one is a king he should be at more stable 
occupations than turning ivory boxes on a wheel or mixing- 
potter's clay. On our taking leave, he asked us to come again 
and see him, wished us a happy journey home, and requested us 
to accept a couple of the boxes and a cup and saucer as made by 
the royal hands as souvenirs of our visit. 

" His Majesty the first King of Siam and absolute sovereign is 
named Chulahlongkorn. This, at least, is the name which he 
attaches to the royal signet. His name as given in the books is 
Phrabat Somdetch Phra Paramendo Mahah Chulah-long-korn 
Klow. On the afternoon of April 14th, at three o'clock, General 
Grant and party had their audience with the King of Siam. Our 
Palace of Saranrom, in which we are living, is next to the Grand 
Palace ; but so vast are these royal homes that it was quite a 
drive to the house of our next-door neighbor. The General 
and party went in state carriages, and at the door of the palace 
was met by an officer. Troops were drawn up all the way from 
the gate to the door of the audience-hall, and it was quite a walk 
before, having passed temples, shrines, outhouses, pavilions and 
statelier mansions, we came to the door of a modest building and 
were met by aids of the King. A wide pair of marble steps led 
to the audience-room and on each side of the steps were pots 
with blooming flowers and rare shrubs. The band in the court- 
yard played the national air, and as the General came to the 
head of the stairs the Kinp-, who was waiting; and wore a mao-nifi- 
cent jewelled decoration, advanced and shook the hands of the 
General in the warmest manner. Then, shaking hands with Mrs. 
Grant, he offered her his arm, and walked into the audience-hall. 
The audience-hall is composed of two large, gorgeously decorated 
saloons, that would not be out of place in any palace. The 
decorations were French, and reminded you of the Louvre. In 
the first hall was a series of busts of contemporary sovereigns 
and rulers of States. The place of honor was given to the bust 
of General Grant, a work of art in dark bronze which did not 
look much like the General and seems to have been made by a 



BURMAH AND SI AM. 619 

French or English artist from photographs. From here the 
King passed on to a smaller room, beautifully furnished in yellow 
satin. Here the King took a seat on a sofa, with Mrs. Grant 
and the General on either side, the members of the party on 
chairs near him, officers of the Court in the background standing 
and servants at the doors kneeling in attitudes of submission. 
The King is a spare young man, active and nervous in his move- 
ments, with a full, clear, almost glittering black eye, which moved 
about restlessly from one to the other, and while he talked his 
fingers seemed to be keeping unconscious time to the musical 
measures. When any of his Court approached him or were 
addressed by him they responded by a gesture or salute of 
adoration. Everything about the King betokened a high and 
quick intelligence, and although the audience was a formal one 
and the conversation did not go beyond words of courtesy and 
welcome from the King to the General and his party, he gave 
you the impression of a resolute and able man, full of resources 
and quite equal to the cares of his station. This impression, I 
may add, was confirmed by all that we heard and saw in Siam. 
The audience at an end, the King led Mrs. Grant and the Gen- 
eral to the head of the stairs, and we took our leave. 

"At three o'clock on the 15th of April the King returned the 
General's visit by coming in state to see him at our Palace of 
Saranrom. This we were told was a most unusual honor, and 
was intended as the highest compliment it was in his Majesty's 
power to bestow. A state call from a King is evidently an event 
in Bangkok, and long before the hour the space in front of the 
palace was filled with curious Siamese and Chinese, heedless of 
the rain, waiting to gaze upon the celestial countenance. As the 
hour came there was the bustle of preparation. First came a 
guard, which formed in front of the palace ; then a smaller guard, 
which formed in the palace yard, from the gate to the porch j 
then a band of music, which stood at the rear of the inner mjard; 
then came attendants carrying staves in their hands to clear the 
street and give warning that the King was coming, that the street 
should be abandoned by all, so that Majesty should have unques- 
tioned way. Then came a squadron of the royal body-guard in 



620 AROUND THE WORLD. 

a scarlet uniform, under the command of a royal prince. The 
King sat in a carriage alone, on the back seat, with two princes 
with him who sat on front seats. His Royal Highness, our host 
and the members of the household arrayed themselves in state 
garments, the Prince wearing a coat of purple silk. The Gen- 
eral and his party wore evening dress, as worn at home on occa- 
sions of ceremony. When the trumpets announced the coming 
of the King, the General, accompanied by the Prince, the mem- 
bers of his household and our party, came to the foot of the 
stairs. Colonel Grant, wearing the uniform of a lieutenant- 
colonel, waited at the gate to receive the King in his father's 
name. 

" The General, as I have said, waited at the foot of the marble 
steps, and, as the King advanced, shook hands with him cordially 
and led him to the reception-room. The King was dressed in 
simple Siamese costume, wearing the decoration of Siam, but not 
in uniform. Mr. Alabaster, the interpreter, stood behind the 
King and the General. The King, who spoke Siamese, said he 
hoped that the General had found everything comfortable for 
himself and party in the Saranrom Palace. 

"The General said that nothing could be more agreeable than 
the hospitality of the Prince. 

" The King said that he hoped that the General if he wanted 
anything, to see any part of Siam, go anywhere or do anything, 
would express the wish, as he would feel it a great privilege to 
give him anything in his kingdom. 

" General Grant said he appreciated the King's kindness and 
thanked him. 

"The King, after a pause, said that General Grant's visit was 
especially agreeable to him, because, not only in his own reign, 
but before, Siam had been under obligations to the United States. 
Siam saw in the United States not only a great but a friendly 
Power, which did not look upon the East with any idea of 
aggrandizement, and to whom it was always pleasant to turn for 
counsel and advice. More than that, the influence of most of the 
Americans who had come to Siam had been good, and those who 
had been in the government's service had been of value to the 



BURMAH AND SIAM. 621 

State. The efforts of the missionaries to spread a knowledge of 
the arts and sciences, of machinery and of medicine, among the 
Siamese had been commendable. The King was glad to have 
the opportunity of saying this to one who had been the Chief 
Magistrate of the American people. 

" General Grant responded that the policy of the United States 
was a policy of non-intervention in everything that concerned the 
internal affairs of other nations. It had become almost a tradi- 
tional policy, and experience confirmed its wisdom. The country 
needed all the energies of its own people for its development, 
and its only interest in the East was to do what it could to benefit 
the people, especially in opening markets for American manufac- 
tures. The General, in his travels through India and Burmah, 
had been much gratified with the commendations bestowed upon 
American products; and, although the market was as yet a small 
one, he felt certain that our trade with the East would become 
a great one. There was the field at least, and our people had 
the opportunity. Nothing would please him more than to see 
Siam sharing in this trade. Beyond this there was no desire on 
the part of the American government to seek an influence in the 
East. 

" The King said that nothing would please him more than the 
widest possible development of the commerce between Siam and 
America. The resources of Siam were great, but their develop- 
ment limited. Siam was like the United States in one respect, 
that it had a large territory and a small population, and the 
development cf many sources of wealth that were known to 
exist had been retarded from this cause. 

" General Grant thought this difficulty might be met by the 
introduction of skilled labor, such, for instance, as mining experts 
from Nevada and California, who could prospect and locate mines 
and labor-saving machinery in which the Americans especially 
excelled. 

" The King assented to this, with the remark that the Siamese 
were a conservative people and studied anything new very care- 
fully before adopting it. Their policy in foreign relations had 
been a simple one — peace with foreign Powers and steady 



62 2 AROUND THE WORLD. 

development of the country. Siam was a small country, with 
limited resources, and she knew that she could not contend with 
the great foreign Powers. Consequently she always depended 
upon the justice and good will of foreign Powers. This some- 
times led to their appearing to consent or to submit to some 
things which, under other circumstances and by other and greater 
nations, would not be endured. In the end, however, it worked 
right, and Siam, looking back over her relations with the Great 
Powers, found, on the whole, no reason for regret. In the main 
these relations had been for the good of the Siamese people. 
From the foreign Powers Siam had always received encourage- 
ment. 

"An allusion was made to the large Chinese population in 
Siam, and the King asked General Grant about the Chinese in 
America. The General said that there had been a lar^e emisrra- 
tion of Chinese to the United States ; that they brought with 
them many of the best qualities of laborers, but there was an 
objection in the minds of many good people at home to their 
arriving, as they did, in a condition of practical slavery. 

" The Kingf asked whether the Chinese brought their wives and 
children to America and established any domestic ties with the 
country. 

" The General said that this was one of the difficulties — one 
that most offended the moral sense of people at home, the ab- 
sence of domestic ties. This and the condition of servitude in 
which they came were the only objections that had any standing 
against the Chinese. As laborers they were good, and there 
were many fine points in their favor, many reasons why their 
labor was a benefit to a country with so much to develop as the 
United States. 

" The King said the same was practically true of the Chinese 
in Siam. They did not bring their wives and children, which was 
an objection. But they had many admirable qualities. He then 
asked whether the Chinese paid any taxes to the support of the 
government. 

" General Grant answered that in America there could be no 
tax upon labor, and that there could be no distinction between 



BURMAH AND SIAM. 623 

the labor of Chinamen and the labor of another race. What the 
State laws in States like California provided he was not aware, 
but his impression, as far even as California is concerned, was that 
the Chinaman paid nothing to the government in the way of tax- 
ation. A few large merchants in San Francisco paid taxes on 
their property. This, however, would not be regarded as a spe- 
cial hardship, if there were no slavery and the laborers came with 
their families. 

"The conversation then passed to the industrial resources of 
Siam and how they would be affected by closer relations with 
other Powers. The General said that it would be well for Siam 
to have embassies or diplomatic relations with other nations, and 
he asked why it would not be a good thing for Siam to send an 
embassy to the United States. 

" The King said he was anxious to carry out this idea, but there 
was a question of money concerned. Siam could not afford to 
keep embassies on the same scale as the greater and richer na- 
tions. He had written to the United States Government offering 
to send an embassy, and his action would depend upon the answer 
of the American authorities. 

" The General said he was not in office, was a simple private 
citizen, without authority; but he felt sure that the government 
would receive any embassy His Majesty chose to send with the 
utmost cordiality. 

"The King was pleased with this assurance, and said he had 
no doubt of the friendliest feeling toward Siam on the part of the 
American people. 

" The General asked whether it was not possible for the King 
to visit the United States and see the country. Such a visit 
would have a good effect, and he himself would be delighted to 
have the opportunity of entertaining His Majesty in the United 
States and returning some of the hospitalities he was now 
enjoying. 

" The King thanked the General for the invitation, but said a 
king of Siam was king for life. He did not have the felicity 
which had fallen upon the General of being able after a term of 
years to lay down office. So long a journey was impossible, and 



624 AROUND THE WORLD. 

he was so young when the crown devolved upon him that he did 
not have the opportunity of foreign travel which had been given 
to princes in other countries. He was sorry this had not been 
possible, as he desired nothing so much as to see other nations, 
and more especially the United States. He had made a visit to 
India, and was much interested in that country. 

" The General referred to India as a most interesting country. 
The talk then ran as to travel in India, the King asking the Gen- 
eral as to his route and the cities he had seen. ' In India,' said 
the General, 'you see one nation governing another. In Siam 
you see an Oriental nation governing itself. That was what es- 
pecially interested him in Siam, and the success of the govern- 
ment here, its enlightenment and progress, were most gratifying. 
He had seen nothing in the East more so.' 

" General Grant then referred to education in the United 
States and to the fact that the Siamese Government had sent 
some of the young men to Germany and England for education. 
He suggested to His Majesty that it would be well to send some 
of these young men to American colleges. Other nations had 
done so, ruling families in Europe as well, notably the Chinese 
and Japanese. We had splendid schools in the United States, 
and the young men would return home with a better idea of the 
American people and the country. The King might depend 
upon these young men having the best reception ; not merely a 
good education and careful training, but every personal courtesy. 

"The King said that he had sent several young men to Eng- 
land and Germany. He had intended sending several to the 
United States. Circumstances prevented his doing so. The 
government had done as much in this way as it could afford at 
present. When the question arose again he would remember 
what the General had said on the subject. 

" The talk then ran upon the weather, which the King said was 
most unusual. He did not remember a rainy season setting in so 
severely at that season of the year. The effect on the country 
thus far would be salutary. He had had no bad reports from the 
country. The King then addressed himself to Mrs. Grant and 
Mr. Borie. He said he felt it an especial compliment that a gen- 



BURMAH AND SIAM. 625; 

tleman so advanced in years as Mr. Borie had been brave enough 
to come so far away from home as Siam, and asked whether the 
ex-Secretary had suffered on the trip. Mr. Borie said the only 
disease from which he suffered was one which could not be con- 
trolled — advancing years and old age. He had enjoyed the trip 
very much and the kindness of the Siamese was very marked. 
But the whole journey was a series of hospitalities and attentions 
that could not be described. He felt disarmed by them. 

" This closed the interview. The King rising, General Grant 
walked hand in hand with him to the foot of the stairs, the band 
played the national air, the cavalry escort formed in line, the 
princes and high officers walked to the carriage door, and the 
King drove home to his palace. 

" On the next morning there was a state dinner at the royal 
palace. The party consisted of the King, His Royal Highness 
the Celestial Prince, several princes, members of the royal family 
of lower rank, General Grant and party, the American Consul, 
Mr. Sickels, and Miss Struder, daughter of the Consul at Singa- 
pore ; Mr. Torrey, the American Vice Consul, and Mrs. Torrey ; 
the Foreign Minister, his son, the King's private secretary, Mr. 
Alabaster, the members of the Foreign Office and the aids of 
the King who had been attending the General. The Siamese all 
wore state dresses— coats of gold cloth richly embroidered — and 
the King wore the family decoration, a star of nine points, the 
centre a diamond, and the other points with a rich jewel of dif- 
ferent character, embracing the precious stones found in Siam. 
The General was received in the audience-hall, and the dinner 
was served in the lower hall or dining-room. There were forty 
guests present, and the service of the table was silver, the pre- 
vailing design being the three-headed elephant, which belongs to 
the arms of Siam. This service alone cost ,£10,000 in England. 
There were two bands in attendance, one playing Siamese, the 
other European music alternately. The Celestial Prince escorted 
Mrs. Grant to dinner and sat opposite the King at the centre of 
the table. General Grant sat next the King. The dinner was 
long, elaborate and in the European style, with the exception of 
some dishes of curry dressed in Siamese fashion, which we were 



40 



626 AROUND THE WORLD. 

not brave enough to do more than taste. The night was warm, 
but the room was kept moderately cool by a system of penekahs 
or large fans swinging from the ceiling, which kept the air in 
circulation. 

"After we had been at table about three hours there was a 
pause and a signal. The fans stopped, the music paused and 
Mr. Alabaster, as interpreter, took his place behind the King. 
His Majesty then arose and the company with him, and, in a 
clear accent heard all over the saloon, made the following speech 
in""Siamese : 

" ' Your Royal Highness, Ladies and Gentlemen now Assembled : I beg 
you to bear the expression of the pleasure which I have felt in receiving as my 
guest a President of the United States of America. Siam has for many years 
past derived great advantages from America, whose citizens have introduced to 
my kingdom many arts and sciences, much medical knowledge and many valu- 
able books, to the great advantage of the country. Even before our countries 
were joined in treaty alliance citizens of America came here and benefited us. 
Since then our relations have greatly improved, and to the great advantage of 
Siam, and recently the improvement has been still more marked. Therefore it 
is natural that we should be exceedingly gratified by the visit paid to us by a 
President of the United States. General Grant has a grand fame, that has 
reached even to Siam, that has been known here for several years. We are well 
aware that as a true soldier he first saw glory as a leader in war, and, thereafter 
accepting the office of President, earned the admiration of all men as being a 
statesman of the highest rank. It is a great gratification to all of us to meet 
one thus eminent both in the government of war and of peace. We see him 
and are charmed by his gracious manner, and feel sure that his visit will in- 
augurate friendly relations with the United States of a still closer nature than 
before, and of the most enduring character. Therefore I ask you all to join with 
me in drinking the health of General Grant and wishing him every blessing.' 

" When the King finished Mr. Alabaster translated the speech 
into English, the company all the time remaining on their feet. 
Then the toast was drunk with cheers, the band playing the 
American national air. 

"General Grant then arose, and in a low but clear and per- 
fectly distinct voice said : 

"'Your Majesty, Ladies and Gentlemen: I am very much obliged to 
Your Majesty for the kind and complimentary manner in which you have wel- 
comed me to Siam. I am glad that it has been my good fortune to visit this 



BURMAH AND SIAM. 627 

country and to thank Your Majesty in person for your letters inviting me to 
Siam, and to see with my own eyes your country and your people. I feel that 
it would have been a misfortune if the programme of my journey had not in- 
cluded Siam. I have now been absent from home nearly two years, and during 
that time I have seen every capital and nearly every large city in Europe, as 
well as the principal cities in India, Burmah and the Malay Peninsula. I have 
seen nothing that has interested me more than Siam, and every hour of my visit 
here has been agreeable and instructive. For the welcome I have received from 
Your Majesty, the princes and members of the Siamese government and the 
people generally, I am very grateful. I accept it, not as personal to myself alone, 
but as a mark of the friendship felt for my country by Your Majesty and the 
people of Siam. I am glad to see that feeling, because I believe that the best 
interests of the two countries can be benefited by nothing so much as the es- 
tablishment of the most cordial relations between them. On my return to 
America I shall do what I can to cement those relations. I hope that in 
America we shall see more of the Siamese, that we shall have embassies and 
diplomatic relations, that our commerce and manufactures will increase with 
Siam, and that your young men will visit our country and attend our colleges 
as they now go to colleges in Germany and England. I can assure them all a 
kind reception, and I feel that the visits would be interesting and advantageous. 
I again thank Your Majesty for the splendid hospitality which has been shown 
to myself and my party, and I trust that your reign will be happy and prosper- 
ous, and that Siam will continue to advance in the arts of civilization. ' 

"General Grant, after a pause, then arose and said: 

" ' I hope you will allow me to ask you to drink the health of His Majesty 
the King of Siam. I am honored by the opportunity of proposing that toast 
in his own capital and his own palace, and of saying how much I have been 
impressed with his enlightened rule. I now ask you to drink the health of His 
Majesty the King and prosperity and peace to the people of Siam.' 

" This toast was drunk with cheers, the company rising and the 
band playing the national air of Siam. The King then led the 
way to the upper audience-chamber, the saloon of the statues. 
Here ensued a lonp- conversation between the Kinq; and the Gen- 
eral and the various members of the party. Mrs. Grant, in the 
inner room, had a conversation with the Queen, who had not 
been at table. In conversing with the General the King became 
warm and almost affectionate. He was proud of having made 
the acquaintance of the General, and he wanted to know more 
of the American people. He wished Americans to know that 
he was a friend of the country. As to the General himself, the 



628 AROUND THE WORLD. 

King hoped when the General returned to the United States that 
he would write the King and allow the King to write to him, and 
always be his friend and correspondent. The General said he 
would always remember his visit to Siam, that it would afford him 
pleasure to know that he was the friend of the King ; that he would 
write to the King and always be glad to hear from him, and if 
he ever could be of service to the King it would be a pleasure. 
With Mr. Borie the King also had a long conversation, and his 
manner toward the venerable ex-Secretary was especially kind 
and genial. It was midnight before the party came to an end." 



CHAPTER XVI. 

CHINA. 

Departure of General Grant from Siam — Arrival at Singapore — No News from the " Richmond " 
— General Grant Embarks on the " Irrawaddy " for Hong Kong — Saigon — Arrival at 
Hong Kong — The "Ashuelot" — Reception of General Grant at Hong Kong — General 
Grant Sails in the " Ashuelot " for Canton — Arrival at Canton — Reception of General 
Grant by the Chinese Authorities — A Visit to the Viceroy — A State Procession — A Chi- 
nese Display — Reception by the Viceroy — A Chinese Tea-Party — Chopsticks — The Vice- 
roy's Visit to General Grant — Oriental Pomp — A Chinese State Dinner — General Grant 
Leaves Canton — Macao — Memories of Camoens — General Grant returns to Hong Kong — 
The Voyage to Shanghai — Swatow — Amoy — Arrival of General Grant at Shanghai — A 
Magnificent Reception — General Grant Arrives at Tientsin — A Grand Reception — The 
Viceroy at Tientsin — Welcomes General Grant — The Most Powerful Subject of the Chi- 
nese Empire — Courtesies to General Grant— The Voyage up the Peiho — Arrival of General 
Grant at Pekin — Honors to General Grant in Pekin — Interview with the Prince Regent 
Kung — A Remarkable Man — China Requests General Grant to Mediate Between Herself 
and Japan — An Important Interview — General Grant Returns to Tientsin — Memorable In- 
terview with the Viceroy—A Chinese Statesman — A Diplomatic Dinner — Arrival of the 
" Richmond " — General Grant Leaves Tientsin — The Viceroy's Farewell — Visit to the 
Great Wall of China — The " Richmond " at Chefoo — The Midnight Salute — Departure 
from China. 




ROM Bangkok, General Grant and his party returned to 
Singapore, which was reached on the 21st of April. 
Upon reaching Singapore, the General found that the 
" Richmond" had not arrived, and decided to go at once on board 
the French mail steamer " Irrawaddy," and sail for Hong Kong. 
The "Irrawaddy" sailed on the 2 2d. 

"We touched at Saigon," says Dr. Keating, describing the 
voyage, "and remained there for thirty-six hours. If the climate 
of Saigon is a type of that of the rest of Cochin-China, I would 
not live there long. It was simply fearful. The long, narrow, but 
deep river, about as wide as Chestnut street, winds in figure of 8 
from the town of Saigon to its mouth. In fact, it is not one river 
alone, but a confluence, having multitudes of islands, the home 
of the mosquito, between its branches. As we entered the 

river's mouth quite early in the afternoon, and wound our way 

(629) 



63O AROUND THE WORLD. 

in and out, turning sometimes almost abruptly at right angles 
and sometimes turning in a contrary direction, to our great dis- 
may we suddenly saw our trusty ship swing around and endeavor 
by every available means to climb the bank on the port side. 
The bank was low and swampy, and no doubt existed in our 
minds as to her success until the crew settled the difficulty by 
arranging the aft steering-gear and gently righted her on her 
course. The steam steering-gear had come to pieces — not the 
first accident of the kind we have seen in our travels. This 
delayed us so that, before reaching Saigon, night, with all its 
Oriental beauty, had set in. At ten that night, after we reached 
our anchorage, and all the men, like ghostly figures, prowled 
around the deck seeking a cool spot, the A. D. C. of his Excel- 
lency, Rear-Admiral Lafond, the Governor of French Cochin- 
China came aboard, and extended an invitation to the General 
and party to become the guests of the Government House. 
This invitation was cordially accepted. On the following day 
the General drove all over the town, visited the principal build- 
ings, and made himself conversant with the French control of 
Cochin-China. In the evening a dinner was given, and a levee 
at the Government House followed, which was a brilliant affair. 
At midnight the General took leave of his host, and proceeded 
on board the Trrawaddy,' which sailed at four o'clock next 
morning. 

"After leaving Saigon the weather became much cooler ; the 
wind, blowing from the northeast, brought us occasional storms, 
which, indeed, were refreshing, barring the unexpected ducking 
that befell the unconscious passenger who happened to sleep in 
an unsheltered corner of the ship. If there is one peculiarity 
of travelling by sea in the Eastern tropics, it is seen after sun- 
down. No one for a moment thinks of using his cabin below 
except as a storehouse. About nine o'clock the gangway is seen 
crowded with servants bearing mattresses upon their shoulders, 
seeking to secure the best places for their respective masters. 
No matter where you go on the upper deck after four bells, you 
will find some one curled up in semi-Chinese attire, sweetly 
'dreaming the happy hours away.' " 



CHINA. 63I 

Hong Kong was reached on the 20th of April. The General 
was warmly welcomed by the United States Consul and a num- 
ber of prominent merchants and citizens. A visit was paid to 
the United States war steamer "Ashuelot," which was lying in 
the harbor. "On the General's approach," says Dr. Keating, 
" the yards were manned and a salute of twenty-one guns was 
fired in his honor. The marines and a number of seamen were 
formed on deck to receive the distinguished visitor, and Com- 
mander Perkins and his officers waited near the gangway. The 
vessel was decked in holiday attire, as were almost all the ships 
in the harbor — the Stars and Stripes being everywhere most 
prominent. 

"A pleasant half-hour was spent aboard the 'Ashuelot,' after 
which we again took the steam launch and proceeded towards 
Murray pier, where preparations had been made to receive us. 
The pier was very tastefully decorated. Evergreens festooned 
its whole length from flagstaff to flagstaff, and a handsome tri- 
umphal arch rose to view, surmounted by British and American 
flags. On one side were ranged the leading inhabitants and 
general public — the officials and others who were to be presented 
occupying reserved positions in front. On the other side a de- 
tachment of English soldiers was drawn up, with band playing 
and colors flying. Some 3,000 or 4,000 persons were there,, 
about one-fourth being Europeans, and the rest members of 
leading Chinese firms. The large attendance of respectable 
Chinese merchants, I afterwards learned, was due to the action 
of the Governor, who had called together the most prominent 
citizens and extended them an invitation to be present and assist: 
him in welcoming the General. 

"As the ex-President stepped from the launch and mounted 
the red-covered stairway, the Governor came forward, and, 
warmly shaking him by the hand, welcomed him and Mrs. Grant 
to Hong Kong. The members of the party were then introduced 
to the Governor, and afterwards all the officials present and a 
few others, including Mr. Ng Choy — a celebrated Chinese bar- 
rister — and Mr. Tang King Sing, an opium-farmer of credit and 
renown, were presented to the General. Hand-shaking at an 
end, we were conducted to our quarters." 



632 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Several pleasant days were passed at Hong Kong, and then 
the General and his party proceeded up the river to Canton. 

"At seven o'clock on the morning of the 5th of May," says 
Mr. Young, in his letter to The New York Herald, " General 
Grant and party embarked for Canton on board the American 
man-of-war Ashuelot.' It was important to leave at an early 
hour to catch the tides and reach Canton in the afternoon. Mr. 
Lincoln, the American Consul, had been down to Hong Kong to 
see General Grant and arrange for his coming to Canton. Hong 
Kong is an island on the coast, and Canton a city on the Pearl 
river, about forty miles from the coast. The 'Ashuelot,' com- 
manded by Commander G. H. Perkins, is especially adapted for 
river travel, and everything was made as pleasant as possible for 
the General. In addition to the General and party we had Mr. 
Chester Holcombe, the Charge d' Affaires at Pekin, and Mr. 
Denny, the Consul at Tientsin. The trip to Canton was favored 
with fine weather, and was especially interesting to us because 
we were now coming into Chinese territory for the first time. 
Mr. Holcombe brought us word that the Chinese authorities in 
Pekin had given orders to treat General Grant with unusual dis- 
tinction. It was difficult to explain to a Chinaman the exact 
position of General Grant. The republican idea is not easily 
translated into Oriental tongues. The Chinaman cannot con- 
ceive how one who had been a ruler of the nation should aban- 
don his post — or how a ruler, having been deposed by a nation, 
any one should care further about him. These were anomalies 
unknown to the learned and wise in China, and since it became 
known that the General was coming, our consuls and diplomatic 
agents have been instructing the Chinese officials in the elemen- 
tary principles of republican government. 

"But there was no disposition to dwell upon these points, for 
China remembered that America had been invariably the friend 
of China; that while other nations had pressed her and spoiled 
her cities, America had been steadfast in friendship. Our first 
welcome was at the Bogue forts. These forts guard the en- 
trance to the narrow part of the river, and were the scenes of 
active fighting during the French and English wars with China. 




{633) 



634 AROUND THE WORLD. 

As we approached the forts a line of Chinese gunboats were 
drawn up, and on seeing the 'Ashuelot' with the American flag 
at the fore, which denoted the presence of the General on board, 
each boat fired the Chinese salute of three guns. The Chinese, 
by a refinement of civilization which it would be well for European 
nations to imitate, have decreed that the salute for all persons, 
no matter what rank, shall be three guns. This saves powder 
and heartburnings, and those irritating questions of rank and 
precedence which are the grief of naval and diplomatic society. 
The 'Ashuelot' returned these salutes, firing three guns, and a 
boat came alongside with mandarins in gala costume, who 
brought the cards of the Viceroy, the Tartar general command- 
ing the forces and other dignitaries. Mr. Holcombe, who speaks 
Chinese, received these mandarins and presented them to Gen- 
eral Grant, who thanked them for the welcome they brought 
from the Viceroy. A gunboat was sent to escort us, and this 
vessel, bearing the American flag at the fore out of compliment 
to the Genera], followed us all the way. At various points of 
the river — wherever, indeed, there were forts — salutes were fired 
and troops paraded. These lines of troops, with their flags — 
and nearly every other man in a Chinese army carries a flag — 
looked picturesque and theatrical as seen from our deck. Our 
hopes of reaching Canton before the sun went down were disap- 
pointed by the caprice of the tides, and we found ourselves 
wabbling around and carroming on the soft clay banks at a time 
when we hoped to have been in Canton. 

" It was nine o'clock in the evening before we saw the lights 
of Canton. The Chinese gunboats as we came to an anchorage 
burned blue lights and fired rockets. The landing was decorated 
with Chinese lanterns, and many of the junks in the river burned 
lights and displayed the American flag. Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Scherzer, 
French Consul, Dr. Carson, and other representatives of the 
European colony, came on board to welcome us and to express 
a disappointment that we had not arrived in time for a public 
reception. The whole town had been waiting at the landing 
most of the afternoon and had now g-one home to dinner. The 
General and party landed without any ceremony and went at 






CHINA. 635 

once to the house of Mr. Lincoln, where there was a late dinner. 
Next morning salutes were exchanged between the 'Ashuelot' 
and the Chinese gunboat. The 'Ashuelot' first saluted the 
Chinese flag and the port of Canton. To this the gunboat 
answered, firing twenty-one guns, as a compliment to us, and 
deviating from the Chinese rule. Then a salute of twenty-one 
guns was fired in honor of the General, to which our vessel 
answered. This is noted as the first time that the Chinese ever 
fired twenty-one guns in honor of any one, and it was explained 
that the government did so as a special compliment to America. 
General Grant remained at home during the morning to receive 
calls, while Mrs. Grant and the remainder of the party wandered 
into the city to shop and look at the curious things, and espe- 
cially at the most curious thing of all, the city of Canton. 

" The coming of General Grant had created a flutter in the 
Chinese mind. No foreign barbarian of so high a rank had ever 
visited the Celestial Kingdom. Coming from America, a coun- 
try which had always been friendly with China, there were no 
resentments to gratify, and accordingly, as soon as the Viceroy 
learned of the visit, he sent word to our Consul that he would 
receive General Grant with special honors. There had been a 
discussion in consular and diplomatic circles as to whether the 
Viceroy would call on the General or the General on the Viceroy. 
We found it an unsettled question when we arrived. General 
Grant said that he would call on the Viceroy whenever that 
officer would receive him, his purpose being in going around the 
world to see all that could be seen with as little trouble as possi- 
ble to his hosts and friends. The hour for visiting the Viceroy 
was two o'clock. The residence of the Consul is on the foreign 
concession, an island in the river called Shamien. This is a 
pretty little suburb, green enough to be a bit of Westchester 
county. The houses are large, with London ideas in the archi- 
tecture, and there are shady lanes and gardens in the European 
plan to remind the colony of home. From the island you pass 
into Canton over a wide and short bridge, and opening a gate 
plunge at once into dense and swarming Canton. The Viceroy 
had sent a message to our Consul saying that when the Emperor 



636 AROUND THE WORLD. 

of China went through a city all the houses were closed, the 
streets cleared of people and troops lined the way. He supposed 
that General Grant had been accustomed to similar attentions, 
and accordingly he would have all the streets cleared and the 
troops paraded. An answer was sent that the General preferred 
seeing the people and would be better satisfied if no such orders 
were given. But the Viceroy was full of anxiety and so issued 
a placard informing all people that the foreigner was coming, 
that he was coming to do the Viceroy honor and that the people 
must do him honor. Any one failing in this or showing any 
disrespect to the General or any of his party would be at once 
arrested and punished with severity. Placards were hawked 
about the city as a kind of extra newspaper in Chinese charac- 
ters, giving the people the latest news. I give you a translation 
of one of these extra bulletins : 

" 'We have just heard that the King of America, being on friendly terms with 
China, will leave America early in the third month, bringing with him a suite 
of officers, etc., all complete on board the ship. It is said that he is bringing 
a large number of rare presents with him, and that he will be here in Canton 
about the 6th or 9th of May. He will land at the Tintsy ferry, and will pro- 
ceed to the Viceroy's palace by way of the South gate, the Fantai's Ngamun 
and the Waning street. Viceroy Lan has arranged that all the mandarins shall 
be there to meet him, and a full Court will be held. After a little friendly 
conversation he will leave the Viceroy's palace and visit the various objects of 
interest within and without the walls. He will then proceed to the Roman 
Catholic Cathedral to converse and pass the night. It is not stated what will 
then take place, but notice will be given.' 

" The Consulate is back from the street and looks out on a 
park or battery that runs down to the river. For an hour or 
two before the time large numbers of Chinamen gathered under 
the trees waiting for the procession. As any member of the 
party came in or out he became an object of curious wonder, 
and you had a feeling in time, with those wondering eyes ever 
upon you, as if you were on a stage acting, and this was the 
audience — an intensely interested audience, standing in the sun 
fanning themselves. Whenever an officer of the 'Ashuelot' ar- 
rived, the excitement rose to fever heat, for the officers came in 
full uniform, and the Oriental mind runs to gold and lace as 



CHINA. 637 

emblems of rank. The General sat on the piazza smoking and 
talking with Mr. Borie, quite unrecognized by the audience, who 
refused to see anything indicative of rank in a gray summer coat 
and white hat. When Commander Perkins arrived, accompanied 
by Chief Engineer McEwen, Lieutenant Belknap, his executive 
officer, and Dr. Fitz Simons, of the 'Ashuelot,' all in the full uni- 
form of the navy, the problem was settled, and it was then known 
which was the King of America ' on his way to the Roman 
Catholic Cathedral to converse and spend the night.' As the 
hour approached the crowd grew larger and larger, and the ex- 
citement increased. A Tartar officer arrived on horseback with 
a detachment of soldiers, who formed under the trees and kept 
the crowd back. Then came the chairs and the chair-bearers, 
for in Canton you must ride in chairs and be borne on the 
shoulders of men. Rank is shown by the color of the chair and 
the number of attendants. The General's chair was a stately 
affair. On the top was a silver globe. The color was green, a 
color highly esteemed in China, and next in rank to yellow, 
which is sacred and consecrated to the Emperor, who alone can 
ride in a yellow chair. The chair itself is almost as large as an 
old-fashioned watch-box, and is sheltered with green blinds. It 
swings on long bamboo poles and is borne by eight men. The 
eight men were scarcely necessary, but the chair of state is always 
surrounded. In addition to the chair-bearers there was a small 
guard of unarmed soldiers, some ahead and others behind the 
chair, whose presence gave dignity to the chair and its occupant. 
The principal business of this guard seems to be to shout and 
make all the noise possible. 

"At last we were under way for our visit to the Viceroy. First 
rode the single Tartar officer on a small gray pony. Then came 
the shouting guard. Then General Grant in his chair of state. 
The General wore evening dress, which was a disappointment to 
the Chinese, who, now being able to pin him down, because of 
the chair in which he rode, expected to see him a blaze of 
diamonds and embroidery and peacock feathers. The party 
who accompanied the General was composed of Mr. Borie, 
Lieutenant-Colonel Grant, C. P. Lincoln, our Consul to Canton; 



638 



AROUND THE WORLD. 



Chester Holcombe, our acting Minister in Pekin ; Judge Denny, 

our Consul in Tientsin ; Dr. 
Keating, Commander G. H. 
Perkins, Engineer McEwen, 
Lieutenant Belknap, Dr. Fitz 
Simons, of the'Ashuelot,'and 
the writer. The procession 
was rather a long one, for a 
chair with its attendants takes 
a good deal of space. And 
although my own place was 
not more than half way down 
the line, the General's chair 
as it turned from under the 
shady lane and moved across 
the bridge was a long way 
ahead. 

"At intervals of a hundred 
yards were guards of soldiers, 
some carrying spears shaped 
like a trident, others with 
staves or pikes, others the 
clumsy old-fashioned gun. 
There is nothings martial in 
the Chinese soldier, I am 
afraid, but his dress was spe- 
cially decorated and helped 
to give color to the scene. 
Then came groups of man- 
darins (officials), their hats 
surmounted with the button 
which indicated their rank, 
holding fans, and as the Gen- 
eral passed saluting him in 
Chinese fashion, raising both 
hands to the forehead in 
supplicating attitude, hold- 




CHINESE PAGODA. 



CHINA. 639 

ing them an instant and bringing them down with a rotatory 
gesture. Wherever the street was intersected with other streets 
the crowd became so dense that additional troops were required 
to hold it in place, and at various points the Chinese salute of 
three guns was fired. The road to the viceregal palace was 
three miles, and as the pace of the coolie who carries your chair 
is a slow one, and especially slow on days of multitudes and 
pageantry, we were over an hour in our journey, and for this 
hour we journeyed through a sea of faces, a hushed and silent 
sea, that swept around us, covering windows, doors, streets, roof- 
tops, wherever there was room for a pair of feet or hands. 

" Some of the party estimated that there were 200,000 people 
to witness General Grant's progress through Canton. But no 
massing together of figures, although you ascend into the hun- 
dreds of thousands, will give you an idea of the multitude. Our 
march was a slow one. There were frequent pauses. You 
leaned back in your chair, holding the crushed opera hat in your 
hand, fanning yourself with it, for the heat was oppressive and 
there never seemed to have been a breeze in Canton. You felt 
for the poor coolies, who grunted and sweated under the load, 
and threw off their dripping garments only to excite your com- 
passion as you saw the red ridges made by the bamboo poles on 
their shoulders. You studied the crowd which glared upon you 
— glared with intense and curious eyes. You studied the strange 
faces that slowly rolled past you in review, so unlike the faces at 
home, with nothing of the varying expressions of home faces — 
smooth, tawny — with shaven head and dark, inquiring eyes. 

" But the booming guns, which boom in a quick, angry fashion ; 
the increasing crowds, the renewed lines of soldiery, now stand- 
ing in double line, their guns at a present; the sons of mandarins, 
the Viceroy's guard, under trees, and the open, shaded enclosure 
into which we are borne by our staggering, panting chair-bearers, 
tell us that we are at our journey's end and at the palace of the 
1 Viceroy. We descend from our chairs and enter the open recep- 
tion-room or audience-chamber. The Viceroy himself, surrounded 
by all the great officers of his court, is waiting at the door. As 
General Grant advances, accompanied by the Consul, the Viceroy 



640 AROUND THE WORLD. 

steps forward and meets him with a gesture of welcome, which,. 
to our barbarian eyes, looks like a gesture of adoration. He 
wears the mandarin's hat and the pink button and flowing robes 
of silk, the breast and back embroidered a good deal like the 
sacrificial robes of an archbishop at high mass. The Viceroy is a 
Chinaman, and not of the governing Tartar race. He has a thin, 
somewhat worn face, and is over fifty years of age. His manner 
was the perfection of courtesy and cordiality. He said he knew 
how unworthy he was of a visit from one so great as General 
Grant, but that this unworthiness only increased the honor. 
Then he presented the General to the members of his court — 
Chang Tsein, the Tartar General ; Jen Chi, the Imperial Com- 
missioner of Customs; Shan Chang Mow, the Deputy Tartar 
General, and Chi Hwo, the Assistant Tartar General. It is one 
of the memories of the Tartar conquest of China that the armies 
should be under Tartar chiefs, and it is noted as a rare incident 
that the Viceroy himself should be a Chinaman and not of the 
conquering race. Notwithstanding the rank of the Viceroy and 
his being the supreme ruler, I presume the real government de- 
pends upon the Tartar General, who, in case of an emergency, 
would defend his race and the throne which is now held by a 
Tartar dynasty. The Tartar General was a small, rather full 
person, with a weary, ill face, and we were told that he had come 
from a chamber of sickness to welcome us. Military care, the 
luxury of exalted station, opium, most' probably, had had their 
way upon the Commander-in-Chief, and made him prematurely 
old. After General Grant had been presented we were each of 
us in turn welcomed by the Viceroy and presented to his suite. 
Mr. Holcombe and the Chinese interpreter of the Consul, a blue 
button mandarin, who speaks admirable English, were our inter- 
preters. The Viceroy was cordial to Mr. Borie, asking him many 
questions about his journey, congratulating him upon his years, 
it being Chinese courtesy to especially salute age, and express- 
ing his wonder that Mr. Borie should have taken so long a jour- 
ney. Mr. Borie said to the Viceroy that he had always desired 
to see China. He had been for fifty years in business, trading 
with China, and the result of that long experience had been to 



CHINA. 64I 

give him the highest opinion of the honesty, ability, and veracity 
of Chinese merchants. 

" During this interchange of compliments the reception-room 
was filled with members and retainers of the court. Mandarins, 
aids, soldiers — all ranks were present. The whole scene was one 
of curiosity and excitement. The Chinamen seemed anxious to 
do all they could to show us how welcome was our coming, but 
such a visit was a new thing, and they had no precedent for the 
reception of strangers who had held so high a position as Gen- 
eral Grant. The question of who should call first had evidently 
been much in the Viceroy's mind, for he said, apparently with the 
intention of assuaging any supposed feeling of annoyance that 
might linger in the General's mind, that, of course, that was not 
a call : it was only the General on his way about the town coming 
in to see him. The assurance was certainly not necessary, and I 
only recall it as an illustration of the Oriental feature of our visit. 
After the civilities were exchanged, the Viceroy led the General 
and party into another room, where there were chairs and tables 
around the room in a semi-circle. Between each couple of chairs 
was a small table, on which were cups of tea. The General was 
led to the place of honor in the centre, and the Chinese clustered 
together in one corner. After some persuasion the Viceroy was 
induced to sit beside the General, and the conversation proceeded. 
Nothing was said beyond the usual compliments, which were only 
repeated in various forms. I observed more vivacity among the 
Chinese than when we visited the Siamese — more of a desire to 
talk and make the callers at home. 

'After sitting fifteen minutes, we drank tea in Chinese fashion. 
The tea is served in two cups, one of which is placed over the 
other in such a manner that when you take up the cups you have 
a globe in your hands. The tea is plain, and as each particular 
cup has been brewed by itself — is, in fact, brewing while you are 
waiting — you have the leaves of the tea. You avoid the leaves 
by pushing the upper bowl down into the lower one so as to leave 
a minute opening, and draw out the tea. Some of us drank the 
tea in orthodox home fashion, but others, being sensitive to the 

reputation of barbarism, perhaps, managed the two bowls very 

41 



642 AROUND THE WORLD. 

much as though it were an experiment in jugglery, and drank the 
tea like a mandarin. This ceremony over, we were led into an- 
other room that opened on a garden. Here were guards, aids, 
and mandarins, and lines of soldiers. We found a large table 
spread, covered with dishes — eighty dishes in all. A part of a 
Chinese reception is entertainment, and ours was to be regal. 
We sat around the table and a cloud of attendants appeared, who, 
with silver and ivory chopsticks, heaped our plates. Beside each 
plate were two chopsticks and a knife and fork, so that we might 
eat our food as we pleased, in Chinese or European fashion. 

" I tried to pay my hosts the compliment of using the chop- 
sticks. They are about the size of large knitting needles, and, 
in the hands of a Chinaman, useful instruments. The servants 
twirled them all over the table, and picked up every variety of 
food with sure dexterity. I could do nothing with them. I never 
thought I had so large fingers as when I tried to carry a sweet- 
meat from one dish to another with chopsticks. The food was 
all sweetmeats, candied fruit, walnuts, almonds, ginger, cocoanuts, 
with cups of tea and wine. The Viceroy, with his chopsticks, 
helped the General. This is true Chinese courtesy for the host 
to make himself the servant of his guest. Then came a service 
of wine — sweet champagne and sauterne— in which the Viceroy 
pledged us all, bowing to each guest as he drank. Then, again, 
came tea, which, in China, is the signal for departure, an intima- 
tion that your visit is over. The Viceroy and party arose and 
led us to our chairs. Each one of us was severally and especially 
saluted as we entered our chairs, and, as we filed off under the 
trees, our coolies dangling us on their shoulders, we left the 
Viceroy and his whole court, with rows of mandarins and far- 
extendinpf lines of soldiers in an attitude of devotion, hands held 
together toward the forehead and heads bent, the soldiers with 
arms presented. The music, real, banging, gong-thumping, 
Chinese music, broke out, twenty-one guns were fired, so close 
to us that the smoke obscured the view, and we plunged into the 
sea of life through which we had floated, and back again, through 
one of the most wonderful sights I have ever seen — back to our 
shady home in the American Consulate. 






CHINA. 64 3 

" The call of the Chinese officials the next day was a solemn 
ceremony. The Viceroy sent word that he would come at ten. 
Punctuality, however, is not an Oriental virtue, and ten o'clock 
had passed and we were sitting on the piazza looking out on the 
shipping in the river, when the beating of gongs gave the signal 
of the coming in state. 

" I went out under the trees to see the procession, at the risk 
of exciting remark as to my curiosity from the crowd of China- 
men, chair-bearers, attendants and others who were standing 
around waiting for the show. The visitor proved to be the Tar- 
tar General, and he came in the most solemn state. First came 
the gong-beaters, who beat a certain number of strokes in a rapid 
measure. By the number you know the rank of the great man. 
Then came soldiers carrying banners on which were inscribed the 
names and titles of the commander. There was a marshal on a 
pony who seemed to command the escort. There were soldiers 
carrying spikes and spears and banners. The profusion of ban- 
ners, or more properly small silk pennants, gave the procession 
a picturesque aspect, and the waving, straggling line, as it came 
shambling along under the trees, was quaint. There were at- 
tendants carrying the pipes and teapots of the great man. Four 
coolies carried a load under which they staggered, and this, I was 
told, was food. Jt is the custom when a great man goes forth to 
carry food and refreshment for himself and party and to give as 
largess to friends on the way, and although this General was only 
making a morning call, he showed honor to our party by coming 
in as much state as though he were journeying through the coun- 
try. There were aids in chairs, but the General rode in a green 
state chair, the blinds closely drawn. I noticed that there was no 
drill or discipline in the procession — no keeping step. It shuffled 
and straggled along, the gongs beating and the attendants shout- 
ing in chorus to clear the way and do honor to the great man 
they were escorting until the Consulate was reached. Then the 
soldiers and burden-bearers crowded under the trees and the 
Tartar General's chair was borne to the piazza. 

" The Tartar General, Chang Tsein, was met at the door by the 
Consul and escorted into the parlor, where General Grant shook 



644 AROUND THE WORLD. 

hands and gave him a seat. The attendants swarmed around the 
doors and the windows. I rather pitied the Tartar General, who 
looked tired and nervous, when I was told that his hour for rising 
was three o'clock in the afternoon ; that he was not in the best 
of health, and that nothing but his desire to be civil to General 
Grant induced him to break through his habits. But His Excel- 
lency was chatty and ran into a long conversation, mainly about 
the age of General Grant and his own, the loner distance between 
America and China, the extraordinary fact that the world was 
round, which no Chinaman really believes, and the singular cir- 
cumstance that while we were sitting there looking at the trees 
and the shining sun people at home were either in bed or think- 
ing of going to bed. One of the party, for the purpose I pre- 
sume of sustaining the conversation, said that in going around 
the world we lost a day — that it was 364 days in the year going 
one way, and 366 going another; to all of which the Tartar Gen- 
eral listened with a polite but doubting interest. General Grant 
ventured upon some questions as to the resources of the country, 
and learned that Pekin was much colder than Canton, that the 
Tartar General's home was in Pekin, that he had been so long in 
Canton that his health was affected and he wanted to be recalled. 
This talk ran on for fifteen minutes and tea was passed around in 
Chinese fashion, and the Consul led the way to another room. 
Here were refreshments, mainly sweetmeats and wine. Ten 
minutes more were spent over the candies and cakes, and the 
Tartar General, filling his glass with champagne, drank our 
health. Then tea was served again and the Tartar General 
arose, took his leave, and went off amid the beating of gongs, the 
waving of banners and the cries of his retinue. 

" The sounds of the gongs had scarcely died away when the 
sounds of other gongs announced the coming of the Viceroy, Lin 
Kwan Yu. He came in a little more state than the Tartar Gen- 
eral, but the ceremonies of the reception were about the same. 
Then came other officials, all of whom had to be received, and 
given tea and sweetmeats and wine, so that the morning hadfe 
gone before the last visit. At one o'clock there was a luncheon 
party, to which Mr. Lincoln invited the members of the American 



CHINA. 645 

Mission. The American missionary work in Canton has been 
long established, and the ladies and gentlemen engaged in it 
seemed to be contented and hopeful. Among those present 
were Rev. D. A. P. Hopper and his family, Rev. Mr. Noyes and 
family, Rev. Mr. Henry and wife, Rev. Mr. Van Dyke and wife, 
Rev. Mr. Graves and wife, Miss Wilden and Dr. Kerr, Comman- 
der Perkins and several of the officers of the 'Ashuelot' Mr. 
Borie and some of the members of General Grant's party had 
broken away in the morning from the unending ceremonies and 
were over in the Chinese city buying curiosities. Mr. Borie 
came back in time to shake hands with the missionaries and 
converse with them on the progress of the Gospel in China. 
The luncheon party was pleasant, because there were no 
speeches — because it was pleasant to meet so many fellow- 
countrymen away from home engaged in the stupendous work 
of trying to bring China to Christianity. At five o'clock we 
formed into procession again and were carried in chairs to the 
residence of the Viceroy to take part in a state dinner given to 
General Grant. 

"The hour fixed by the Viceroy for the dinner was six, and it 
was necessary for us to be under way at five. Those who went 
to the dinner were General Grant and party, Commander Per- 
kins, Engineer McEwen, Lieutenant Deering, Dr. Fitz Simons and 
A. Ludlow Case, of the 'Ashuelot.' Our journey to the Viceroy 
was in the same state as when we made our official call. The 
hour was later, and it was more pleasant to ride in the cool 
evening than in the warm, sweltering day. Although the crowd 
was immense it was not so large as on the day before. There 
were the same ceremonies, the same parade, the same firing of 
guns, and if anything even more splendor when we came to the 
viceregal mansion. The Viceroy, the Tartar General and their 
splendidly embroidered retinues were all in waiting, and we were 
shown into the audience-chamber and given tea. The hall was 
illuminated and the gardens were dazzling with light. After the 
tea and the exchange of compliments between the Chinese and 
the members of our party a signal was given by the ringing of 
silver chimes, and we marched in procession to the dining-hall. 



646 AROUND THE WORLD. 

" It was something of a march, because in these Oriental 
palaces space is well considered, and if you dine in one house 
you sleep in another and bathe in a third. The dining-room was 
open on the gardens, apparently open on three sides. Around 
the open sides was a wall of servants, attendants, soldiers, man- 
darins, and if you looked beyond into the gardens, under the 
corruscating foliage, burdened with variegated lanterns, you saw 
groups and lines, all staring in upon us. How much of this was 
curiosity or how much ceremony I could not tell. Our dining- 
room was, I have said, an open hall, looking out upon a garden. 
Our table was a series of tables, forming three sides of a square. 
The sides of the tables that formed the interior of the square were 
not occupied. Here the servants moved about. At each table 
were six persons, with the exception of the principal table, which 
was given up to General Grant, the Viceroy, the Tartar General,. 
Mr. Borie and Mr. Holcombe. Behind the Viceroy stood his 
interpreter and other personal servants. Attendants stood over 
the other tables with large peacock fans, which was a comfort, 
the night was so warm. The dinner was entirely Chinese, with 
the exception of the knives, forks and glasses. But in addition 
to the knives and forks we had chopsticks, with which some of 
the party made interesting experiments in the way of searching 
out ragout and soup dishes. At each of the tables were one or 
two of our Chinese friends, and we were especially fortunate at 
having with us a Chinese officer who spoke English well, having 
learned it at the mission school of Dr. Hopper. 

" The custom in China is not to give you a bill of fare over 
which you can meditate, and if the dinner has any resources 
whatever compose a minor dinner of your own. A servant 
comes to each table and lays down a slip of red tea-box paper 
inscribed with Chinese characters. This is the name of the dish. 
Each table was covered with dishes, which remained there during 
the dinner — dishes of everything except bread — sweetmeats and 
cakes predominating. The courses are brought in bowls and 
set down in the middle of the table. Your Chinese friend, whose 
politeness is unvarying, always helps you before he helps him- 
self. He dives his two chopsticks into the smoking bowl and 




( 6 47) 



648 AROUND THE WORLD. 

lugs out a savory morsel and drops it on your plate. Then he 
helps himself frequently, not troubling the plate, but eating 
directly from the bowl. If the dish is a dainty shark's fins or 
bird's nest soup all the Chinese go to work at the same bowl 
and with the same chopsticks, silver and ivory, which were not 
changed during the entire dinner, but did service for fish and 
fowl and sweetmeats. Between each course were cigars or pipes. 
The high Chinamen had pipe-bearers with them, and as each 
course was ended they would take a whiff. But the cigars came 
as a relief to the smoking members of the party : for they could 
sit and look on and enjoy the spectacle, and have the opera sen- 
sation of looking- at something new and strange. The cigars, 
too, were an excuse for not eating, and at a Chinese dinner an 
excuse for not eating is welcome. There is no reason in the 
world why you should not eat a Chinese dinner, except that you 
are not accustomed to it. You come to the table with a depraved 
appetite. Corn-bread and pigs-feet and corned beef have done 
their work upon you, and a good dinner most probably means a 
mound of beef overspread with potatoes. Of course such a 
training unfits you for the niceties, the delicate touches of a 
Chinese dinner. Then I am sure you do not like sweetmeats. 
That is a taste belonging to earlier and happier days — to the 
days of innocence and hope, before you ever heard of truffles 
and champagne. You would rather fight a duel than eat one of 
those heaps of candied preparations which our Chinese friends 
gobble up like children. But there is where our Chinese friends, 
with their healthy child-bred tastes, have the advantage of us, 
and why it is that your incapacity to enjoy your dinner is the 
result of an appetite deadened by civilization. 

" But whatever the reason, the fact is that a cigar is a blessing 
and enables you to turn your dinner into an entertainment, to 
look on and be yourself amused, just as an hour ago you were 
amusing the crowd by the way in which you welcomed the bird's 
nest soup. The one thing which gave the dinner a touch of 
poetry was the bird's nest soup. The fact that the Chinese have 
found a soup in the nest of a bird is one of the achievements of 
their civilization. Take any school of half-grown children and 



CHINA. 649 

ask them about the manners of the Chinese, and there is not an 
answer that will not include bird's nest soup. So when our 
Chinese general told us, as he read the cabalistic letters on red 
tea-chest paper, that the next dish was to be bird's nest soup, we 
awakened to it as to the realization of a new mystery. The 
birds' nests came from Java, Borneo and Sumatra, and are rare 
and dear. My China friend told me that the dish before us 
would cost $15 or $20, that the bird's nest prepared for soup 
was worth its weight in silver. The nests are built in and are 
the work of a species of swallow. When the bowl came on the 
table it was as thick as a ragout, and our Chinese friends lueeed 
out a mess of stringy, fibrous food, about the color and con- 
sistency of good old-fashioned vermicelli. The soup certainly 
does not justify its fame. There was nothing disagreeable about 
it ; it was simply tasteless. I could not detect a flavor or the 
suspicion of a flavor; it was only a mess of not unpleasant, 
oflutinous food, that needed seasoning. 

"After we had learned the bird's nest soup, and had, alas! one 
mystery less to know in this developing world, we were attracted 
by shark's fins. The fins of the shark are much prized in China, 
and there were several stewed. We only skirmished around 
this dish in a coy, inquiring manner, really not caring to go into it, 
but feeling that it would be an impropriety to come to a Chinese 
dinner and not taste shark's fins. The dishes that we knew 
were so disguised that even when they made themselves known 
they were beyond recognition. The dishes we did not know we 
experimented upon. We discovered that the bird's nest soup 
was insipid ; that shark's fins were oily and rancid ; that fish 
brain was too rich ; that the preparations of whale sinews and 
bamboo and fish maw, mushrooms and a whole family of the 
fungus species were repelling ; that the chipping of the ham and 
duck and pigeon into a kind of hash took away all the qualities 
that inspire respect for them at home, and that the fatal omission 
was bread. ' If you go to a Chinese dinner,' said a friend on 
shipboard, 'be sure and take a loaf of bread in your pocket.' I 
thought of this injunction as I was preparing to dine with the 
Viceroy, but had not the courage to go into a Chinese palace, 



65O AROUND THE WORLD. 

like Benjamin Franklin, with a loaf of bread under my arm. If. 
we had been dining- we should have missed the bread ; but 
none of us went through the dinner, except the Doctor, perhaps, 
who viewed the entertainment from a professional point of view 
and went through it in a spirit of discovery. When the feast 
was about two-thirds over, the Viceroy, seeing that General 
Grant and Mr. Borie had gone beyond the possibility of dinner, 
proposed a walk in the garden. The remainder of the party 
waited until the dinner was over. It was a long and weary 
repast, once that the novelty passed away. 

"It was about half-past ten when we returned to the audience- 
room and took leave of our hosts. The Viceroy said he would 
come down to the 'Ashuelot' and see the General off. But the 
General said he was to sail at an early hour, and so said that he 
would prefer not putting His Excellency to so great a trouble. 
Then the Viceroy said it was a custom in China to send some 
memento of friendship to friends; that he was sorry he could not,, 
without violation of Chinese etiquette, entertain Mrs. Grant, and 
he would like to send her a specimen of Cantonese work which 
might serve to remind her of Canton when she came to her own 
home beyond the seas. The Viceroy also spoke of the pleasure 
and the honor that he had felt in receiving General Grant, and 
his welcome in Canton would be repeated throughout China, 
In taking leave the Viceroy asked the General to be kind to his 
people in the United States, 'for you have,' he said, 'a hundred 
thousand Cantonese among you, and they are good people/ 
Then we entered our chairs, and amid the firing of guns, music, 
the cries of attendants and the waving of lanterns, we returned. 
The journey home through the night was weird and strange. 
The party was preceded by torch-bearers, and every chair carried 
lanterns. At regular points on the route were attendants hold- 
ing torches and lanterns. The streets swung with lanterns, and 
the effect, the light, the narrow streets, the variety of decoration, 
the blended and varying colors, the doors massed with people, 
the dense and silent throng through which we passed, their yel- 
low features made sombre by the night — everything was new 
and strange and grotesque; and when we crossed the river and 






CHINA. 65I 

came under the green trees and saw our boat in the river and 
felt ourselves again among our own ways, it seemed that in the 
scenes through which we had passed the curtain had been lifted 
from a thousand years and that we had been at some mediaeval 
feast of Oriental and barbaric splendor." 

General Grant and his party left Canton on the 9th of May. 
"We sailed down the river from Canton," says Mr. Young, in his. 
letter to The New York Herald, "and over to Macao. Macao is 
a peninsula on the east coast of China, within five hours' sail of 
Hong Kong, a distance of about forty miles. Its exact situation 
is latitude 22 11' 30" north, longitude 113 32' 30" east. Macao- 
is a colony of Portugal, and has been under its rule for more 
than three centuries. In the days of Portuguese commercial 
greatness, when Albuquerque was carrying the sword and St. 
Francis Xavier the cross through the East, Macao was picked up 
by Portuguese adventurers and added to the Indian possessions 
of Portugal. That empire has crumbled, has been taken by 
Englishman and Hollander. Macao remains as a remnant, a. 
ruin of an empire that once bid fair to rule the continent of Asia. 
The holding of Macao looks like a bit of national vanity on the 
part of the Portuguese. I can see no use for it except as a 
haven for opium smugglers and a sort of Sunday resort for the 
Hong Kong youth to visit and play fantan. The right to play 
fantan is sold for $180,000 a year, and this revenue is a large 
part of the income of the colony. The town looks picturesque 
as you come to it from the sea, with that aspect of faded gran- 
deur which adds to the beauty, if not to the interest and value, 
of a city. As the 'Ashuelot' came around the point in view of 
Macao, a slight sea was rolling- and a mist hunsf over the hills. 
As soon as our ship was made out from the shore, the Portu- 
guese battery flashed out a salute of twenty-one guns, to which 
the 'Ashuelot' responded. About five o'clock we came to an 
anchor, and the aide of the Governor came on board to say that 
the illness, and we were sorry to hear the serious illness, of the 
Governor prevented his doing any more than sending the most 
cordial welcome to Macao. The General landed and drove to a 
hotel. In the evening he strolled about, and in the morning 



652 AROUND THE WORLD. 

visited the one sight which gives Macao a world-wide fame — the 
home and grotto of Camoens. 

"Camoens lived in the age when it was not unbecoming for a 
poet to be a soldier, and to engage in adventurous enterprises. 
He lost his sight in a conflict with the Moors, and, dissatisfied 
with the condition of his affairs in Portugal, sailed for the East in 
the thirty-sixth year of his age. In the Portuguese colony of Goa 
he made enemies by the freedom with which he criticised the 
rulers, and the result was that he came in banishment to Macao, 
where in time local friendship procured him the appointment of 
administrator to the estates of deceased persons. Here he wrote 
a good part of the 'Lusiad.' Senhor Marques, a Portuguese 
resident, is now the owner of what is now known as Camoen's 
Grotto. General Grant visited it the morning after his arrival, 
and was shown over the grounds by Senhor Marques, who, in 
honor of our coming, had built an arch over the entrance, with 
the inscription, 'Welcome to General Grant' The grounds sur- 
rounding the grotto are beautiful and extensive, and for some 
time we walked past bamboo, the pimento, the coffee and other 
tropical trees and plants. Then we ascended to a bluff over- 
looking the town and sea, and from the point we had a com- 
manding view of the town, the ocean and the rocky coasts of 
China. The grotto of Camoens is enclosed with an iron railing, 
and a bust of the poet surmounts the spot where, according to 
tradition, he was wont to sit and muse and compose his immor- 
tal poems. General Grant inscribed his name in the visitors' 
book, and, accompanied by Senhor Marques, returned to the 
'Ashuelot,' which at once steamed for Hong Kong. Salutes 
were fired from the Portuguese battery as we left, and at two 
o'clock we landed in Hong Kong harbor, were Governor 
Hennessy met the General and took him to the Government 
House. 

"Our return to Hong Kong was to be present at a garden- 
party which had been arranged by the citizens. But the weather 
interfered, and the General was compelled to leave on Monday 
to keep engagements which had been made for him in the north. 
He spent Sunday quietly with the Governor, and on Monday 



CHINA. 653 

morning took leave of his brilliant and hospitable host. Before 
leaving, the General, accompanied by the Governor and our 
Consul, Colonel John S. 
Mosby, received a dep- 
utation of Chinese who 
wished to present him 
with an address. The 
presentation took place 
in the parlors of the 
Government House. 

"After giviner the ad- 
dress the General and 
party, accompanied by 
Governor Hennessy 
and wife and Colonel 
Mosby, took chairs and 
proceeded to the land- 
ing to embark for the 
north. There was a 
guard of honor at the 
wharf and all the foreign 
residents were present. 
As the General went 
on board the launch 
hearty cheers were, giv- 
en, which were again 
and again repeated as 
he steamed into the bay. 
The Governor took his 
leave of General Grant 
on board the ' Ashuelot,' 
and as he left the ves- 
sel fired a salute of 
seventeen guns in his 
honor, with the British flag at the fore. 

" General Grant's trip along the coast of China was exception- 
ally pleasant, so far as winds and waves were concerned. There 




CHINESE VASES. 



^54 AROUND THE WORLD. 

was a monsoon blowing, but it was just enough to help us along 
without disturbing the sea. Then it was a pleasure to come 
once more into cooler latitudes. Ever since we left Naples we 
had been under the sun, and nearly four months' battle with it 
had told upon us all. It was a luxury to tread the deck and feel 
a cool breeze blowing from the north, to roll yourself in a 
blanket as you slept on deck, to look out warmer clothing and 
feel that life was something more than living in a Turkish bath. 
On the morning of the 13th we came to Swatow. 

" Swatow is one of the treaty ports thrown open to foreigners 
under the treaty of Lord Elgin. It is at the mouth of the river 
Hau, near the border of the Kwangtung Province, in latitude 23 
20' north, longitude 1 1 6° 39' east. The entrance to the river is 
striking in point of scenery, and as we came in sight of the town 
all the Chinese forts saluted and the shipping in the harbor 
dressed. C. C. Williams, our Consular Agent, came on board 
to welcome the General, and in his company we landed and 
spent an hour in threading the old Chinese town. The streets 
were narrow, and our way was rendered more difficult by a com- 
pany or two of strolling players, who had erected a kind of 
Punch and Judy show. The apparition of the foreigner, however, 
injured the show business, for the audience gave up the music and 
merry-making and followed us over the town. We saw nothing 
in Swatow, except that it was very dirty, and it was a relief to 
steam across the river to the house of Mr. Williams, where there 
was a sumptuous luncheon. In the afternoon we bade farewell 
to our hosts and steamed out amid several salutes from the forts 
to Amoy. While in Swatow the Chinese Governor called in 
state, and said that he had orders from the government to pay 
all possible attentions to General Grant. It was the custom of 
the country in making these calls to bring an offering, and as 
nothing is more useful than food he had brought a live sheep, 
six live chickens, six ducks and four hams. While the Governor 
was in conference with the General the animals were outside. 
There was nothing for the General to do but to accept the 
homely offering and present it to the servants. 

"Amoy is another of the treaty ports open to foreign trade. 



CHINA. 655 

It is on the island of Heamun, at the mouth of Dragon river, in 
latitude 24 40' north, longitude 11 8° east. It was one of the 
ports visited by the Portuguese, and has practically been open to 
trade for three centuries. The island is about forty miles in cir- 
cumference, and the scenery as we approached was picturesque. 
All the batteries fired, and there was a welcome from one of our 
own men-of-war, the ' Ranger,' commanded by Commander 
Boyd. N. C. Stevens, the Vice Consul, came on board and wel- 
comed us to Amoy. We landed and strolled through the Chi- 
nese town, which was very old and dirty. At noon there was a 
large luncheon party, at which we met all the consuls, the leading 
citizens and the commanders of the 'Ashuelot' and the 'Ranker.' 
Among the guests was Sir Thomas Wade, the British Minister 
to Pekin, who was on his way to the capital, and with whom the 
General had a long conversation about China. Mr. Stevens pro- 
posed the health of the General in a complimentary speech, and 
at five we went on board the 'Ranger' to attend a reception. 
You can never tell what can be done with a man-of-war in the 
way of flags and lanterns and greenery. Certainly the ' Ranger ' 
under the inspiration of the officers was transformed into a fairy 
scene, and nothing could have been more kind and hospitable than 
the captain and the officers. Mrs. Boyd assisted her husband in 
entertaining his guests. At seven o'clock, as the sun was going 
down, we took our leave of the brilliant gathering in the ' Ran- 
ger ' and steamed to Shanghai. 

"On the morning of the 17th of May, the 'Ashuelot,' com- 
manded by Commander Johnson, who relieved Commander 
Perkins in Hong Kong, came in sight of the Woosung forts, 
which fired twenty-one guns. We had had a pleasant run from 
Amoy, a stiff breeze helping us along. As soon as the firing of 
the Chinese forts ceased, the ' Iron Duke,' the flagship of the 
admiral commanding the British fleet in China, ran up the Ameri- 
can flag to the fore and fired twenty-one guns. The Chinese 
gunboats joined in the chorus, and the 'Ashuelot' returned the 
salutes. There was so much cannonading and so much smoke 
that it seemed as if a naval battle were raging. As the smoke 
lifted, the American man-of-war ' Monocacy ' was seen steaming 



656 AROUND THE WORLD. 

toward us, dressed from stem to stern. As she approached a 
salute was fired. We were a little bit ahead of the time ap- 
pointed for our reception in Shanghai, and when the ' Monocacy ' 
came within a cable-length both vessels came to an anchor. A 
boat came from the ' Monocacy,' carrying the committee of citi- 
zens who were to meet the General, Messrs. R. W. Little, F. B. 
Forbes, Helland, Purden, and Hiibbe. The committee was ac- 
companied by Mr. D. W. Bailey, the American Consul-General 
for China, who presented the members to General Grant, and by 
Mrs. Little and Mrs. Holcombe, who came to meet Mrs. Grant. 
The committee lunched with the General, and about half-past one 
the 'Ashuelot' slowly steamed up to the city. As we came in 
sight of the shipping the sight was very beautiful. The different 
men-of-war all fired salutes and manned yards, the merchantmen 
at anchor were dressed, and as the 'Ashuelot ' passed the crews 
cheered. The General stood on the quarter-deck and bowed his 
thanks. As we came to the spot selected for landing, the banks 
of the river were thronged with Chinamen. It is estimated that 
at least one hundred thousand lined the banks, but figures are, 
after all, guesses, and fail to give you an idea of the vast, far- 
extending, patient and silent multitude. It was Saturday after- 
noon, the holiday, and consequently every one could come, and 
every one did in holiday attire. One of the committee said to- 
me, as we stood on the deck of the 'Ashuelot' looking out upon 
the wonderful panorama of life and movement, that he supposed 
that every man, woman and child in Shanghai who could come 
was on the river bank. The landing was in the French con- 
cession. A large 'go down,' or storehouse, had been decorated 
with flags, flowers and greenery. This building was large enough 
to hold all the foreign residents in Shanghai, and long before the 
hour of landing every seat was occupied. 

"At three o'clock precisely the barge of the 'Ashuelot' was 
manned, the American flag was hoisted at the bow, and General 
Grant, accompanied by Mrs. Grant, Mr. Borie, Colonel Grant, 
Mr. Holcombe, acting Minister at Pekin, Mrs. Holcombe, Con- 
sul-General Bailey, and Dr. Keating, embarked. As the boat 
slowly pulled toward the shore the guns of the Ashuelot' thun- 



CHINA. 657 

dered out a national salute, while the other men-of-war manned 
the yards. In a few minutes the boat came to the landing, which 
was covered with scarlet cloth. Mr. Little, chairman of the Mu- 
nicipal Council, and the committee shook hands with the General, 
and the procession marched into the building. As General Grant 
entered, the audience rose and cheered heartily. On reaching 
the seats prepared for him he was presented to the Chinese 
Governor, who had come to do his part in the reception. The 
Governor was accompanied by a delegation of mandarins of high 
rank. The band played ' Hail, Columbia ! ' and after the music 
and cheering ceased Mr. Little advanced and read an address 
welcoming General Grant to Shanghai, to which the General 
made an appropriate reply. 

" The speech over, there were other presentations, and Gen- 
eral Grant was escorted to his carriage. There was a guard of 
honor composed of sailors and marines from the American and 
French men-of-war and the Volunteer Rifles of Shanghai. It 
was the intention of the British naval commander to have sent a 
hundred men on shore to take part in the reception, but there 
was some misunderstanding as to the time, and the British tars 
did not land until it was too late. The captain was mortified at 
the blunder, and sent a message to the General to explain his 
absence and his regret that he had not been able to do his part 
in honoring the General. The General rode in a carriage with 
Mrs. Grant, Mr. Bailey and Mr. Holcombe. The volunteers 
formed on either side and walked as a guard of honor. There 
was an infantry battalion and a battery of artillery. Horses are 
not plentiful in Shanghai, and the General's carriage was drawn 
by a pair of Australian horses. The animals, however, did not 
have military experience, and grew so impatient with the guns, the 
music, and the cheering that they became unmanageable, and the 
procession came to a halt. Lieutenant Cowles, of the ' Mono- 
cacy,' who was in command of the escort, suggested a remedy. 
The horses were taken out, and the volunteer guard, taking hold 
of the carriage, drew it along the embankment to the Consulate, 
a distance of more than a mile. On arriving at the Consulate, 

the General reviewed the escort. The evening was spent quietly, 

42 



658 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the General dining with Mr. Bailey and a few of the leading; 
citizens of the settlement. 

" Sunday was passed quietly, General Grant attending service 
in the Cathedral. On Monday morning he visited a dairy farm 
and afterward made a few calls. In the evening he dined with 
R. W. Little, and after dinner went to the house of Mr. Cameron, 
the Manager of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, to witness 
the torchlight procession and the illumination. The whole town 
had been agog all day preparing for the illumination, and as we 
strolled along the parade every house was in the hands of work- 
men and Chinese artists. There was a threat of bad weather, but 
as the sun went down the ominous winds went with it, and the 
evening was perfect for all the purposes of the display. The 
two occasions when Shanghai had exerted herself to welcome 
and honor a guest were on the visits of the Duke of Edinburgh 
and the Grand Duke Alexis. The display in honor of General 
Grant far surpassed these, and what made it so agreeable was the 
heartiness with which English, Americans, French, Germans and 
Chinese all united. I had heard a good deal during the day of 
what Shanghai would do. But with the memory of many fetes in 
many lands, fresh from the stupendous demonstration in Canton, 
I felt skeptical as to what a little European colony clinging to the 
fringe of the Chinese Empire could really do in the way of a dis- 
play. The dinner at Mr. Little's was over at half-past nine, and 
in company with Mr. Little and the General I drove along the 
whole river front. The scene as we drove out into the open 
street was bewildering in its beauty. Wherever you looked was 
a blaze of light and fire, of rockets careering in the air, of Roman 
lights and every variety of fire. The ships in the harbor were a 
blaze of color and looked as if they were pieces of fireworks. 
The lines of the masts, the rigging and the hulls were traced in 
flames. The ' Monocacy ' was very beautiful, every line from the 
bow to the topmast and anchor chain hung with Japanese lan- 
terns. This graceful, blending mass of color thrown upon the 
black evening sky was majestic, and gave you an idea of a beauty 
in fire hitherto unknown to us. ' Never before,' says the morn- 
ing journal — for I prefer to take other authority than my own in 



CHINA. 659 

recording this dazzling scene — ' never before has there been such 
a blaze of gas and candles seen in Shanghai. ' 

" The trees in full foliage gave a richer hue to the scenes, and 
they seemed under the softening influence of the night and the 
fire to be a part of the fireworks. On the front of the club 
house was a ten-foot star in gas jets with the word ' Welcome.' 
There was the United States coat of arms, with the initials 
' U. S. G.,' flanked with the words 'Soldier' and 'Statesman.' 
Russell & Co. had a ten-foot star ' Welcome to Grant,' and in 
addition there were 2,000 Chinese lanterns crossing the whole 
building, lighting the grounds and swinging from the flagstaff. 
At the Central Hotel was a six-foot St. George's star, with 
' U. S. G.' At the French a St. George's star, with a sunburst 
on either side. The American consulate was covered with lan- 
terns arranged to form sentences — ' Washington, Lincoln, Grant 
— three immortal Americans;' ' Grant will win on this line if it 
takes all summer;' 'The fame of Grant encircles the world;' 
' Grant — of the people, with the people, for the people.' There 
was also a mammoth device in gas jets, fifty feet high, ' Welcome, 
Grant — soldier, hero, statesman.' The Japanese consulate, their 
merchant and the offices of the shipping company were covered 
with lanterns, 4,000 arranged in the most effective manner. The 
Astor House had this quotation from the General's speech in 
Hong Kong, ' The perpetual alliance of the two great English- 
speaking nations of the world.' The English consulate had a 
multitude of lanterns and the word ' Welcome ' in a blazing gas 
jet. The Masonic Hall was a mass of light. Jardine, Matheson 
& Co. had lanterns arranged in a St. Andrew's cross and a 
triumphal arch of fire. 

" These are, however, dry details, which I repeat to do justice 
to those who took so much pains to do honor to the ex-Presi- 
dent. Mere details give no idea of the scene. Even more strik- 
ing than the decorations was the multitude. The Chinese like a 
celebration, and all day the people had been pouring into the for- 
eign settlement from the old city, and from the country for miles 
around, to see the show. Here I am at a loss for figures, but the 
General's own estimate is perhaps the best. In answer to a ques- 



660 AROUND THE WORLD. 

tion he said that there were no less than 200,000 persons within 
the range of vision. As we drove slowly along the river front, 
wherever the eye rested it was upon a massed, silent and immov- 
able throng, not like our own rolling, impatient, heedless crowds 
at home, but silent, sober, calm. At ten the General returned to 
the house of Mr. Cameron, and from there reviewed the firemen's 
procession. Each engine was preceded by a band, which played 
American airs ; and it gave one a feeling of homesickness, and 
recalled the great days of trial and sacrifice, to hear the strains 
of 'John Brown' and 'Sherman's March Through Georgia.' 
After the procession passed and re-passed there was a reception 
in Mr. Cameron's house, and at midnight the General drove 
home to the consulate. So came to an end a wonderful day — 
one of the most wonderful in the history of General Grant's tour 
around the world." 

From Shanghai the "Ashuelot " sailed for Tientsin, at the 
mouth of the Peiho river, from which point General Grant in- 
tended visiting Pekin, the capital of China. His Excellency Li- 
Hung Chang, the Viceroy of Tientsin, and by far the greatest 
living General of China, was very attentive to General Grant, 
and the General on his part conceived a high admiration for the 
Viceroy. 

"The great Viceroy, Li-Hung Chang, of Tientsin," says Mr. 
Young, in his letter to The New York Herald, " perhaps to-day 
the most powerful subject in China, took the deepest interest in 
the coming of General Grant. He was of the same age as the 
General. They won their victories at the same time — the 
Southern rebellion ending in April, the Taeping rebellion in 
July, 1865. As the Viceroy said to a friend of mine, 'General 
Grant and I have suppressed the two greatest rebellions known 
in history.' Those who have studied the Taeping rebellion will 
not think that Li-Hung Chang coupled himself with General 
Grant in a spirit of boasting. ' How funny it is,' he also said, 
'that I should be named Li and General Grant's opponent should 
be called Lee.' While General Grant was making his progress 
in India the Viceroy followed his movements and had all the 
narratives of the journey translated. As soon as the General 




(66i) 



662 AROUND THE WORLD. 

reached Hong Kong, Judge Denny, Consul at Tientsin, conveyed 
a welcome from the Viceroy. When questions were raised as to 
the reception of the General in Tientsin the Viceroy ended the 
matter by declaring that no honor should be wanting to the Gen- 
eral and that he himself should be the first Chinaman to greet 
him in Tientsin, and welcome him to the chief province of the 
empire. 

"As the 'Ashuelot' came into the Peiho river on the 28th of 
May, the forts fired twenty-one guns, and all the troops were 
paraded. A Chinese gunboat was awaiting, bearing Judge 
Denny, our Consul, and Mr. Dillon, French Consul and Dean 
of the Consular Corps. As we came near Tientsin the scene 
was imposing. Wherever we passed a fort twenty-one guns 
were fired. All the junks and vessels were dressed in bunting. 
A fleet of Chinese gunboats formed in line, and each vessel 
manned yards. The booming of the cannon, the waving of the 
flags, the manned yards, the multitude that lined the banks, the 
fleet of junks massed together and covered with curious lookers- 
on, the stately 'Ashuelot,' carrying the American flag at the fore, 
towering high above the slender Chinese vessels and answering 
salutes gun for gun ; the noise, the smoke, the glitter of arms, 
the blending and waving of banners and flags which lined the 
forts and the rioting like a fringe — all combined to form one of 
the most vivid and imposing pageants of our journey. The 
General stood on the quarter-deck, with Commander Johnson, 
Mr. Holcombe, Judge Denny and Mr. Dillon, making acknowl- 
edgments by raising his hat as he passed each ship. As we 
came near the landing the yacht of the Viceroy, carrying his flag, 
steamed toward us, and as soon as our anchor found its place 
hauled alongside. First came two mandarins carrying the 
Viceroy's card. General Grant stood at the gangway, accom- 
panied by' the officers of the ship, and as the Viceroy stepped 
over the side of the 'Ashuelot' the yards were manned and a 
salute was fired. Judge Denny, advancing, met the Viceroy and 
presented him to General Grant as the great soldier and states- 
man of China. The Viceroy presented the members of his 
suite, and the General, taking his arm, led him to the upper 



CHINA. 663 

deck, where the two generals sat in conversation for some time, 
while tea and cigars and wine were passed around in approved 
Chinese fashion. 

" Li-Hung Chang strikes you at first by his stature, which 
would be unusual in a European and was especially notable 
among his Chinese attendants, over whom he towered. He has 
a keen eye, a large head and wide forehead, and speaks with a 
quick, decisive manner. When he met the General he studied 
his face curiously and seemed to show great pleasure, not merely 
the pleasure expressed in mere courtesy, but sincere gratification. 
Between the General and the Viceroy friendly relations grew up, 
and while in Tientsin they saw a great deal of each other. The 
Viceroy said at the first meeting that he did not care merely to 
look at General Grant, or even to make his acquaintance, but to 
know him well and to talk with him. As the Viceroy is known 
to be among the advanced school of Chinese statesmen, not afraid 
of railways and telegraphs and anxious to strengthen and develop 
China by all the agencies of outside civilization, the General 
found a ground upon which they could meet and talk. The sub- 
ject so near to the Viceroy's heart is one about which few men 
living are better informed than General Grant. During his stay 
in China, wherever the General has met Chinese statesmen he 
has impressed upon them the necessity of developing their coun- 
try and of doing it themselves. No man has ever visited China 
who has had the opportunities of seeing Chinese statesmen ac- 
corded to the General, and he has used these opportunities to 
urge China to throw open her barriers and be one in commerce 
and trade with the outer world. 

"The General formed a high opinion of the Viceroy as a 
statesman of resolute and far-seeing character. This opinion 
was formed after many conversations — official, ceremonial and 
personal. Some of these I will give you at another time. This 
letter I am confining to the reception at Tientsin. The visit of 
the Viceroy to the General was returned next day, May 29th, in 
great pomp. There was a marine guard from the 'Ashuelot.' 
We went to the viceregal palace in the Viceroy's yacht, and as 
we steamed up the river every foot of ground, every spot on the 



664 AROUND THE WORLD. 

junks, was covered with people. At the landing troops were 
drawn up. A chair lined with yellow silk, such a chair as is 
only used by the Emperor, was awaiting the General. As far as 
the eye could reach the multitude stood expectant and gazing, 
and we went to the palace through a line of troops who stood 
with arms at a present. Amid the firing of guns, the beating of 
gongs, our procession slowly marched to the palace door. The 
Viceroy, surrounded by his mandarins and attendants, welcomed 
the General. At the close of the interview the General and the 
Viceroy sat for a photograph. This picture Li-Hung Chang 
wished to preserve as a memento of the General's visit, and it 
was taken in one of the palace rooms. A day or two later there 
was a ceremonial dinner given in a temple. The hour was noon, 
and the Viceroy invited several guests to meet the General. Of 
Chinese there were several high officials. Among the Euro- 
peans were Judge Denny, Mr. Forrest, the British Consul ; Mr. 
Dillon, the French Consul; Colonel Grant, the German and 
Russian Consuls, Mr. Detring, the Commissioner of Customs ; 
Mr. Pethich, the Vice Consul ; Commander M. L. Johnson, com- 
manding the 'Ashuelot,' and the commander of the British gun- 
boat, the 'Frolic' The dinner was a stupendous, princely affair, 
containing all the best points of Chinese and European cookery, 
and, although the hour was noon, the afternoon had far gone 
when it came to an end. 

"There was tea and then cigars. The Viceroy had arranged 
for a photograph of the whole dinner party. So our portraits 
were taken in the room where we had dined, the Viceroy and 
the General sitting in the middle, beside a small tea-table. On 
the side of the General were the European, on that of the Vice- 
roy the Chinese members of the party. This function over, we 
returned to our yacht amid the same ceremonies as those which 
attended our coming, and steamed back to the Consulate, the 
river still lined with thousands of Chinamen. 

"We made a tour of the town in chairs, and nothing more dis- 
mal and dreary have we seen in China. The streets were 
covered with dust, the sun shone down upon hard, baked walls ; 
the sewers were open and the air was laden with odors that sug- 



CHINA. 665 

gested pestilence, and explained the dreadful outbreaks of typhus 
and small-pox with which the city is so often visited. One of the 
first sights that attracted me was the number of people whose 
faces were pitted with small-pox. Mr. Holcombe informed me 
that small -pox had no terror for the Chinese, and that they did 
not believe it was contagious. In walking- along the line of one 
of the Viceroy's regiments, drawn up to salute the General, it 
seemed as if every other soldier's face bore marks of the 
disease. 

"The foreign settlement runs along the river. Streets have 
been laid out. Houses stand back in the gardens. Trees throw 
their shadows over the lanes. The houses are neat and tasteful, 
and the French Consulate is especially a striking building. This, 
however, was built by the Chinese as an act of reparation for the 
Tientsin massacre, one of the saddest events in the recent history 
of China. The American Consulate is a pleasant, modest little 
house that stands in the centre of a garden. The garden had 
been turned into a conservatory on the occasion of the General's 
visit, flowers in great profusion having been brought from all 
parts of the settlement. The whole settlement seemed to unite 
in doing honor to the General, and this hearty sympathy, in 
which every one joined, was among the most agreeable features 
of the General's visit to Tientsin. Even the captain of the 
British gunboat showed his good-will by sending his crew and 
marines to act as a guard of honor at the house of the Consul. 
There was nothing oppressive in the hospitality, as has been the 
case in so many of the places visited by the General. The 
French Consul, Mr. Dillon, gave a dinner and a garden party, 
at which all the inhabitants attended. The grounds were beau- 
tifully illuminated. One of the features of the dinner at the 
French Consul's was the presence of the Viceroy. This was the 
first time the Viceroy had ever attended a dinner party at which 
Europeans were present with their wives. The only difference 
in the arrangement of the table was that the General escorted 
the Viceroy to the table, the ladies coming in after and sitting in 
a group on one side of the table. It was a quaint arrangement 
and not without its advantages, and the Viceroy, notwithstanding 



666 AROUND THE WORLD. 

he was breaking through customs as old as the civilization of 
China, and apt to bring down upon him the censure of conserva- 
tives and the displeasure of the censors who sit in Pekin in judg- 
ment upon all officers of the Empire, high and low, seemed to 
enjoy the feast. The Viceroy is, perhaps, the one statesman in 
China who can do as he pleases in matters of this kind. 

" The fete at the French Consul's was made brilliant by a dis- 
play of fireworks, which gave us a new idea of what was possible 
in pyrotechny under the cunning hands of the Chinaman. There 
was also a display of jugglery, the Viceroy, the General and the 
ladies of the party sitting on the balcony and watching the per- 
formers. I was told that the Viceroy had never even seen a 
Chinese juggler before, and he certainly seemed to be pleased 
with the show. There was nothing startling about the tricks, 
except that what was done was pure sleight-of-hand. There 
were no machinery, no screens and curtains and cupboards. All 
that the players required were a blanket and a fan. They stood 
on the lawn and performed their tricks with the crowd all about 
them, drawing bowls full of water and dishes of soup and other 
cumbrous and clumsy articles from impossible places. At mid- 
night the fete ended, and considering the small colony and the 
resources possible to so limited a community, it was a great 
success." 

At one o'clock in the afternoon of the 31st of May, General 
Grant and his party embarked on the Peiho river for Pekin. 
" The question of how we should go to Pekin," says Mr. Young, in 
his letter to The New York Herald, " had been gravely discussed. 
You can go on horseback, or in carts, or in boats. It is only a 
question of degree in discomfort, for there is no comfort in China 
— none, at least, in travel. The quickest way of reaching Pekin 
from Tientsin is by horse. Horseback-riding is the principal 
amusement in Tientsin, and you can find good horses with 
Chinese attendants at a reasonable rate. Mr. Holcombe went 
ahead in a cart, so as to prepare the legation for the reception 
of the General and party. The cart in China is the accustomed 
method of travel, although an attempt at luxury has been made 
in arranging- a mule cart or litter. The litter seems to be a 



CHINA. 667 

recollection of the Indian litter or palanquin. You creep into an 
oblong box with a rest for the head should you care to lie down. 
This box is mounted on shafts, and you have a mule leading and 
another bringing up the rear. While reviewing our arrange- 
ments for the journey Mr. Holcombe, who has seen nearly every 
form of adventure and travel in China, gave his preference to 
the mule litter. The horse was impossible for the ladies of the 
expedition. The carts embodied so many forms of discomfort 
that we were not brave enough to venture. They have no 
springs, and the roads, worn and torn and gashed, make travel 
a misery. There was no available method but the boats, and all 
day Judge Denny and other friends were busy in arranging the 
boats for the comfort of the General. In this labor the Judge 
was assisted by Mr. Hill, an old American resident of China, who 
knew the laneuaee, and who was so anxious to do honor to Gen- 
eral Grant that he volunteered as quartermaster and admiral of 
the expedition. It would have been difficult to find a better 
quartermaster. There was no trouble, no care that he did not 
take to insure us a safe and easy road to Pekin. 

" When the boats necessary assembled they formed quite a 
fleet. They were moored near the 'Ashuelot,' and all the morn- 
ing Chinamen were running backward and forward, carrying 
furniture and food. The party who visited Pekin were General 
and Mrs. Grant; Mrs. Holcombe, wife of the acting American 
Minister ; Colonel Grant, Lieutenant Belknap, Mr. Deering and 
Mr. Case, officers of the 'Ashuelot.' Mr. Hill, as I have said, 
went along as quartermaster. Mr. Pethich, the accomplished 
Vice Consul of Tientsin, and one of the best Chinese scholars in 
our service, and the secretary of the Viceroy, an amiable young 
mandarin, who knew English enough to say ' Good-morning,' were 
among our scouts. There were two small, shallow gunboats, 
which seemed to have no guns, except muskets, who brought up 
our rear. The General's boat was what is called a mandarin's 
boat — a large, clumsy contrivance, that looked, as it towered 
over the remainder of the fleet, like Noah's ark. It had been 
cleaned up and freshened, and was roomy. There were two 
bed-rooms, a small dining-room, and in the stern what seemed to 



668 AROUND THE WORLD. 

be a Chinese laundry house, three stories high. It seemed alive 
with women and children, who were always peeping out of win- 
dows and portholes to see what new prank the barbarians were 
performing, and scampering away if gazed at. These were the 
families of the boatmen, who have no other home but the river. 
The other boats were small, plain shells, divided into two rooms 
and covered over. The rear of the boat was given to the boat- 
men, the front to the passengers. In this front room was a raised 
platform of plain pine boards, wide enough for two to sleep. 
There was room for a chair and a couple of tables. If the 
weather was pleasant we could open the sides by taking out the 
slats, and as we reclined on the bed look out on the scenery. 
But during the day it was too warm, and in addition to the sun 
there were streaming clouds of dust that covered everything. 
During the night it was cold enough for blankets, so that our 
boats were rarely or never open, and we burrowed away most 
of the time as though in a kennel or a cage. Each of the small 
boats had room for two persons. In the rear the cooking was 
done. The General had a special cooking boat which brought 
up the rear, and when the hour for meals came was hauled along- 
side. 

" We should have been under way at daybreak, and the Gen- 
eral was up at an early hour and anxious to be away. But the 
Chinese mind works slowly, and a visit to the General's boat — 
the flagship as we called it — showed that it would be noon before 
we cou)d go. Judge Denny had taken off his coat and was try- 
ing to stimulate the Chinese mind by an example of Western 
energy. But it was of no use. The Chinaman has his pace for 
every function, and was not to be hurried. The day was op- 
pressively warm and the knowledge of the General's departure 
had brought a multitude of Chinamen to the water side — of the 
curious people who think it no hardship to stand all day around 
the Consulate watching for a glimpse of the General. About 
noon the last biscuit had been stored, all the sails were hoisted 
and the fleet moved away under the command of Quartermaster 
and Admiral Hill. The purpose was to pull through the wilder- 
ness of junks that crowd the river for miles, and wait the Gen- 



CHINA. 669 

eral above. An hour later the General went on board the 
Viceroy's private yacht and pushed up the river. A small steam 
launch from the 'Ashuelot' led the way. The result of this was 
advantageous. If the General had gone in his own boat it would 
have taken him some time to thread his way through the junks. 
But a boat carrying the viceregal flag has terror for the boatmen, 
who, as soon as they saw it coming, hastened to make room. A 
Chinese officer stood in the bow and encouraged them to this by 
loud cries and imprecations. Whenever there was any apathy 
he would reach over with his bamboo pole and beat the sluggard 
over the shoulders. It was woe to any boatman who crossed our 
path, and only one or two ventured to do so, to their sore dis- 
comfort. We pushed through the wilderness of junks at full 
speed. We passed the bridge of boats and under the walls of 
the ruined cathedral destroyed in the Tientsin massacre of the 
Sisters of Charity. Here there was a pause as we were passing 
the house of the Viceroy, and etiquette demands that when one 
great mandarin passes the home of another he shall stop and send 
his card and make kind inquiries. So we stopped until Mr. 
Pethich carried the General's card to the viceregal house and 
returned with the card and the compliments of the Viceroy. 

"After taking our leave of the Viceroy we came into the open 
country and found our fleet waiting under the immediate and 
vociferous command of Admiral Hill. The Admiral was on the 
bank, wearing a straw hat and carrying a heavy stick, which he 
waved over the coolies and boatmen as he admonished them of 
their duties. The Admiral had learned the great lesson of diplo- 
macy in the East — terror — and it was difficult to imagine any- 
thing more improving to the Chinese mind than his aspect as he 
moved about with his stick. Boating in the Peiho is an orioqnal 
experience. Sometimes you depend upon the sail. When the 
sail is useless a rope is taken ashore and three or four coolies 
pull you along. If you get aground, as you are apt to do every 
few minutes, the coolies splash into the water and push you off 
the mud by sheer force of loins and shoulders, like carters lifting 
their carts out of the mud. What one needs in boating like this 
is, I have remarked, resignation and patience. The men who pull 



670 



AROUND THE WORLD. 




EMBROIDERED CHINESE SCREEN. 



your boats have done so all their lives. They are a sturdy, well- 
knit race, and seem to thrive under their exertions. Ordinary 
travellers generally tie up for the night and go on during the day. 
There are three or four villages on the river where the boats and 
junks rendezvous, and as we passed them we saw fleets at an- 
chor, mainly riceboats. The Admiral, however, had organized his 
expedition so that we should move day and night. The boatmen 
do not like night service, but with double relays it is not arduous. 
The responsibility, however, of the undertaking was serious, for 



CHINA. 67I 

if the Admiral ventured to go on board the boat and sleep, the 
boatmen would tie up and sleep likewise. As it was impossible 
even for the most willing Admiral to walk all night as well as all 
day, we discovered on the second morning of our journey that 
instead of poling along we were quietly at rest. The coolies 
were asleep ; the boatmen had thrown down their oars and fallen 
asleep, disregarding the menaces of the Admiral, who had ad- 
monished them to vigilance before he turned in. Human nature 
has its limitations, and once the eye of the Admiral was closed 
the boatmen lay down on the banks and slept. We might have 
remained all night at rest, but Lieutenant Belknap discovered the 
situation and gave the alarm. The Admiral turned out with his 
stick, and after a few minutes of vigorous and effective manoeuvring 
we got under way. But there was no more sleep for the Admiral 
that night. He had lost confidence in his boatmen, and as they 
tugged along the river bank with their ropes over their shoulders 
he tramped on behind with his cudgel, telling them in forcible 
Chinese what he thought of men who would basely go asleep 
after promising to remain awake and pull. 

"You can imagine that boating under these circumstances is 
not an exciting experience. Here we are, fresh from the feverish 
and rushing- West, where nothing that is worth doing- is done at 
less than a pace of fifty miles an hour. Here we are journeying 
from a seaport to the capital of the oldest and most populous 
Empire in the world — an Empire before whose achievements even 
the proudest of us must bow. At home we could run the dis- 
tance in two or three hours — in a morning- train while we ran 
down the columns of the newspaper and smoked the breakfast 
cigar. Here your journey is a matter of days, and although you 
may chafe under the consciousness of so much time wasted, there 
is no help for it. You must accept it, and you will be wise if you 
do as Mrs. Grant did, and take a cheerful view and look on the 
trip as a picnic, and see the pleasant side of a journey in which 
you are hauled along a muddy, shallow river at the pace of a 
mile or two an hour. We all of us seemed to be cheerful. Our 
expedition had grown into quite a fleet, and we named our boats 
after the English navy. We had a ' Vixen ' and a ' Growler,' a 



672 AROUND THE WORLD. 

'Spitfire,' and a 'Terror;' the General's hulk was called 'Teme- 
raise ' and the cooking boat the ' Chow Cnow.' We exchanged 
visits from boat to boat. There was reading and sleeping, draw- 
ing sketches and writing. When the sun was in his strength we 
sheltered ourselves and dozed. In the cool of the evening, or as 
the sun went down, we went ashore and strode over the fields, 
crossing the bends of the river and meeting our boats further up. 
When we went ashore we were always followed by a policeman 
from the gunboat, whose duty it was to see that we did not go 
astray or fall into unfriendly hands. When we came to a village 
the magistrates and head men came out and saluted us, and 
offered us welcome and protection. Then we learned that the 
Viceroy had sent word of our coming, and had commanded the 
officials of every degree to hasten and offer their homage. 

" Even such a trip has its bits of adventure. In this country 
there are squalls — spits of wind that scud over the fields, and 
fill your sails and send you booming along. Then the cooly's 
heart rejoices, and he comes on board and gorges himself with 
rice and crawls into his corner and sleeps. Then the Admiral 
comes on board and unbends himself, and tells stories of Chinese 
life and character ; how he was chased by Chinamen near Shang- 
hai when building that untimely Woosung Railroad, how he knew 
Ward and Burgevine in the Taeping rebellion days. These 
squalls, however, have to be closely watched, for the sails are 
large, the boats wide and shallow, and a sudden whiff of wind 
will careen them over. The boatmen, however, are alert, and as 
the wind comes over the wheat-fields and the orchards, down falls 
the sail. One morning some of the party went on board the 
mandarin's boat to show our Chinese friend as much attention 
as we could through an interpreter. These attentions never pro- 
ceed far. You cannot say many things to a Chinese mandarin, 
no matter how civil you mean to be, when your medium is an 
interpreter, and where there is really no common theme of con- 
versation. You see that you are objects of wonder, of curiosity, 
to each other. You cannot help regarding your Chinese friend 
as something to be studied, something you have come a long way 
to see, whose dress, manners, appearance amuse you. To him 



CHINA. 673 

•you are quite as curious. He looks down upon you. You are 
a barbarian. You belong to a lower grade in the social system. 
"As I was saying, some of our party had gone on the manda- 
rin's boat, to be polite to him and tell him about the world being 
round. The mandarin was very civil, and, the Admiral acting as 
interpreter, a great deal of information, mainly geographical, was 
imparted. Then one of the party stepped over to another boat 
for the purpose of calling on the General. The way you make 
calls while boating on the Peiho is to hop from boat to boat, for 
they all remain within easy distance of one another, and there is 
no trouble in going through the whole fleet when you are in a 
visiting humor. One of our party stepped on another boat. 
Before he had gone fifty paces a spitting squall came over the 
fields and caught the sail. The boat began to reel and bilge 
over against the bank. The boatman rushed toward his ropes, 
but too late. The boat was on its beam-ends and the best that 
could be done was to hold on to the sides of the deck and keep 
your feet out of the water. There was nothing calamitous in the 
situation. If the worst came to the worst you had only to walk 
ashore in water up to your knees. But the boat righted again, 
.and not even that harm was done. Our Chinese mandarin 
pulled up in great excitement. Nothing could exceed his con- 
cern — his polite expressions of concern. The idea that whom 
the Viceroy was honoring should be almost tossed into the water! 
Terrible! And by Chinamen, too! Horrible! He would make 
an example of that boatman. The only proper punishment would 
be to take his head off. At the very least he must have 200 
lashes. We interfered as well as we could. No harm had been 
done, and accidents will happen to the best managed boats, and 
who can tell when a squall of wind may come spitting and hissing 
•over the fields ? The captain of the careening boat was already 
on his knees — abject and imploring. If Mrs. Grant's boat had 
been within reach, influence of a decisive nature might have been 
invoked in favor of mercy. But her boat was half a mile away, 
and justice to be effective must be summary, and the best that 
could be done was to reduce the blows from 200 to 20. So the 
.unlucky captain was seized by two of his own crew and laid down 
43 



674 AROUND THE WORLD. 

on his face on his own deck. One held his head down, another 
his feet, and a third, kneeling, gave him twenty blows with a 
thick bamboo cane. The blows did not seem to be severe and 
would not have brought a whimper out of an average New Eng- 
land boy. At the close of the punishment the whipped man 
knelt before the mandarin, pressed his forehead to the ground, 
expressed his gratitude for the mercy he had received and his 
contrition for his fault. Then, with crestfallen looks, he went to 
his boat and took command. About half an hour later I saw him 
gorging himself with rice and chattering away with his comrades 
as though he had never known a lash. The more you see of the 
Orientals the more you are struck with the fact that many of their 
ways are as the ways of children. 

" In the evening we would gather in the General's boat and 
talk. I recall no remarkable incident in the conversations except 
the discovery that one of the naval men knew some words of the 
song ' Sherman's March Through Georgia.' He only knew one 
verse, and that inaccurately. But the fragmentary lines were 
constructed into a verse in some such fashion as scientific men 
take a bone and construct an animal, and the result was a Union 
war song, sung as badly, perhaps, as any song could be, but full 
of music to us in the memories it brought of home and of the 
great days in American history. This snatch of song led to 
other snatches, all of them inaccurate and badly chanted, but 
homelike and familiar, and given with the usual gusto, so that when 
we went from the General's boat and picked our way from boat 
to boat until we found our own, we were surprised to find it mid- 
night, and that the long evening hours, which one would suppose 
to drag wearily along on this tedious, muddy river, had swept 
past us like a dream. So gentle are the memories of home.. 
And some of us sat on the deck and smoked a last cigar — just 
one last ci^ar before turning in — to see the moon, and watch the 
night shadows, and think of home. The Admiral was on shore 
urcrinor and driving his boatmen, his voice rising into crescendo 
and ending in a wail that sounded to us like a plaintive entreaty, 
but must have meant something dreadful to the Chinamen. The 
boatmen pulled and tugged, now and then giving a grunt as they 



CHINA. 675; 

pulled together in a sudden burst over some muddy bar or 
around a bend. Passing rice junks hailed us in words that we 
did not understand, as it was well perhaps that we did not under- 
stand. Lights flitted along the shore, telling us that we were 
passing a village, and that the magistrates were coming down to 
the river bank to execute the Viceroy's orders and see that we 
were journeying in safety. And with the magistrates came the 
dogs, who gave us welcome. And there were the voices of the 
night that somehow here, even here in the far antipodes, spoke 
with the language of home, and above all the moon, throwing 
tints and shadows on the river. 

" On the morning of the third day of our departure from Tien- 
tsin we awoke and found ourselves tied up to the bank at the 
village of Tung Chow. This was the end of our journey by the 
river, and our little boat was in a myriad of boats, the banks 
lined with chattering Chinamen. Mr. Holcombe had ridden 
down from Pekin and came on board to greet us. The Admiral- 
was on the bank very dusty and travel-worn. He had been 
tramping all night to keep the boatmen at their pulling, and his 
voice was husky from much admonition. He was in loud and 
cheerful spirits and in great glee at having brought the General 
on time. The General, however, was not in, but we saw his hulk 
slowly moving up through the junks, towering above them all — 
the American flag at the masthead. The available population of 
the village had been assembled, and something like a step had 
been erected, covered with red cloth, where there was to be an 
official landing. There were mandarins and officers from the 
Foreign Office, and an escort of horsemen and coolies with 
chairs, who were to carry us to Pekin. Prince Kung, the Prince 
Regent, had sent the escort, and we were glad to learn from Mr. 
Holcombe that there was every disposition among the rulers of 
China to show the General all the courtesy in their power — to 
treat him with a respect, even with a pomp, that had never be- 
fore been extended to a foreigner. 

" It was some time before the General's hulk was dragged into 
position, and it was only by extreme authority on the Admiral's 
part and the loyal co-operation of other Chinese officials, who 



6j6 AROUND THE WORLD. 

had sticks, that the boat was finally tied to the shore. It was 
early in the morning, and there was no sign of the General stir- 
ring-. So we stood around and studied the crowd and talked 
over the incidents of the night and paid compliments to Admiral 
Hill upon the vigorous manner in which he had taken us up the 
Peiho. The town folks were waiting ; but, in the meantime, their 
patience was rewarded by an extraordinary spectacle — no less a 
sight than a group of barbarians at breakfast. Our naval friends 
had breakfast early, and as they removed the slats in their boats 
to let in the morning air, the whole operation of breakfast was 
witnessed by the people of the town. They gathered in front 
and looked on in wonder, the crowd growing denser and denser, 
more and more eager and amused. The knives, the forks, the 
spoons, the three officers performing on eggs and coffee, and 
eating from plates without chopsticks, instead of gobbling rice 
out of the same bowl — all this was the strangest sight ever seen 
in the ancient and conservative town of Tung Chow. I am sure 
it was the theme of much innocent gossip at many hearthstones, 
and will long be remembered as a tale to be told by those who 
were fortunate enough to stand on the bank and see the bar- 
barians at their uncouth performances. 

" In time the General arose, and breakfast was hurried. Then 
came all the officials of Tung Chow — mandarins in red and blue 
buttons — to welcome the General and ask him to remain and 
breakfast with them. But the sun was rising, and it was im- 
portant to reach Pekin if possible before he was on us in all of 
his power. There were chairs from Prince Kung for some of 
the party and horses for others. There were mule litters for the 
luggage and donkeys for the servants, and at eight o'clock we 
were under way. The General rode ahead in a chair carried by 
eight bearers. This is an honor paid only to the highest persons 
in China. The other chairs were carried by four bearers. Mrs. 
Grant and Mrs. Holcombe rode some distance behind the Gen- 
eral, two other chairs were occupied by two other members of 
the party and the rest mounted. By the time we formed in pro- 
cession it was really a procession, a little army. Our own party, 
with the servants, was large enough, and to this was added the 
Chinese troops who were to escort us to Pekin. 







(677) 



678 AROUND THE WORLD. 

"So we scrambled up the dusty bank and into the gates of 
the town and through the narrow streets. The whole town was 
out, and as our chairs passed the people stared at the occupants 
with curious eyes. What we noticed in the aspect of the people 
was that they had stronger and coarser features than those in 
Amoy and Canton. We saw the predominance of the Tartar in 
the Tartar types, which are marked and readily distinguished 
from the Chinese. There were Tartar women in the crowds, 
their hair braided in a fashion we had never seen before, and their 
cheeks tinted with an obvious vermilion. Tradesmen left their 
booths and workmen their avocations to see the barbarians who 
had invaded Tung Chow, and were marching through, not as in- 
vaders nor as prisoners, but as the honored guests of the Empire. 
Invaders and prisoners had been seen before, but never a bar- 
barian, in an imperial chair and escorted by Tartar troops. Those 
familiar with the history of China and who remembered the days 
not long since gone, when an army marched over this very road 
to menace Pekin, burn the summer palace of the Emperor and 
dictate a humiliating peace to China, those who remember the 
earnestness, the supplicating earnestness with which the govern- 
ment resisted the efforts of the European Powers to introduce 
ministers into Pekin, could not but note the contrast in the re- 
ception of General Grant, and the changes in Chinese thought 
which that contrast implied. It confirmed the remark made to 
me in Tientsin by one of the clearest-headed men I have seen 
in China, that General Grant's visit had done more than any- 
thing else to break down the great wa H between China and the 
outer world. 

" Our journey from Tung Chow to Pekin lasted five hours. 
The horsemen could have gone ahead in two hours, but the 
chairs moved slowly. The sun was warm, and the panting 
coolies had to rest and change frequently. After leaving Tung 
Chow our way was through a country that did not appear to be 
oversettled, over a stone road which now and then broke into a 
dirt path. We came to villages and all the people were out, 
even to the women and children. Sometimes the children, quite 
naked, ran after us and begged. They had learned the Naples 



CHINA. 679 

pantomime of pressing their hands on their breasts and lips to 
tell us that they were hungry. You observed what you see in 
Naples, that for hungry people almost starved, the beggars have 
a running and staying power which our highly fed people at 
home might envy. Sometimes an elder beggar would appear 
and kneel on the road, and shake his rags and bend his forehead 
into the dust and crave alms. We noted tea-houses by the way, 
where our escort stopped for refreshment. In fact, the main 
duty of the escort seemed to be to gallop from tea-house to tea- 
house, tie their horses under the trees, refresh themselves, and 
on our arrival gallop on to the next point. Considering that our 
escort was more for ornament than use, that although robbers 
sometimes overhaul travellers on the Pekin road, we had enough 
in our own party to take care of any band of robbers we were 
apt to encounter ; it was rather a comfort that they rode ahead 
and had their ease at their inns. As we came to a town near 
Pekin we were met by other officials, who were presented to the 
General and other troops. These ceremonies over, we kept on 
our road. The dust rose about us, the sun grew warmer and 
warmer, and the general discomfort of the weather, the country, 
the cheerless aspect of nature, the sloth, the indifference, the 
neglect, the decay that seemed to have fallen on the land, all 
combined to make the journey a weary one. Jn addition to this 
came the fatigue of ridino- in a chair. For an hour or less ridino- 
in a chair is novel and you have no special sensations of fatigue. 
There is an easy, jogging gait, and you can look out of your 
^window into the faces of the crowd as you pass along. But after 
the first hour you grow tired and cramped. You cannot move 
about. You are compressed into one position. You ache and 
grow restless, the jogging trot becomes an annoyance, and your 
journey, if it lasts more than two hours, becomes the most 
exhaustino- form of travel known to man. 

" Shortly after midday we saw in the distance the walls and 
towers of Pekin. We passed near a bridge where there had 
been a contest between the French and Chinese during the 
Anglo-French expedition, and one of the results of which was 
that the officer who commanded the French should be made a 



68o AROUND THE WORLD. 

nobleman, under the name of the Count Palikao, and had later 
adventures in French history. As we neared the city the walls 
loomed up and seemed harsh and forbidding, built with care and 
strength as if to defend the city. We came to a gate and were 
carried through a stone arched way, and halted, so that a new 
escort could join the General's party. The people in Pekin after 
we passed the bazaars did not seem to note our presence. Our 
escort rode on over the wide, dusty lanes called streets, and all 
that we saw of the city was the dust which arose from the hoofs 
of the horses who straggled on ahead. We were so hot, so 
weary with riding in our chairs, so stifled with the dust that it 
was an unspeakable relief to see at last the American flag float- 
ing over the gateway of the legation. Here were guards and 
tents for guardsmen, to do honor to the General during his stay. 
A few minutes after one o'clock, after five hours of a severe and 
uncomfortable ride, we entered the legation and met a, grateful 
and gracious welcome from our hosts. 

" The legation in Pekin is shut off from the main street by a 
wall. As you enter you pass a small lodge, from which Chinese 
servants look out with inquiring eyes. The American flag floats 
over the archway, an indication that General Grant has made 
his home here. It is the habit for the legations ordinarily to dis- 
play their colors only on Sundays and holidays. On the right 
side of the walk is a series of low, one-storied buildings, which 
is the home of the American Minister. They are of brick, 
painted drab, and covered with tiles. Nothing could be plainer 
and at the same time more commodious and comfortable. On 
the left side is another series, where the Charge d' Affaires, Mr. 
Holcombe, the acting Minister, resides. In the rear is a smaller 
building, for the archives of the legation. Standing a little way 
off from the house of the Charge d' Affaires is a building called 
the pavilion, set apart for guests. In the arrangement of the 
grounds and the buildings you note American simplicity and 
American energy. The energy seems to be devoted to make 
flowers and trees grow. There are flowers and trees, and com- 
ing out of the hot, dusty town as I did an hour ago, it was grate- 
ful to be welcomed by them. They have a forlorn time in this 



CHINA. 68 1 

hard soil, and I have no doubt if the secrets of the legation were 
unfolded it would be found that the preservation of the roses and 
the cedar was among the high cares of office. Under my win- 
dow is a rose bush, a couple of roses depending from one stem 
being all that remain of its beauty. It seems to gasp for rain. 
Dr. Elmore, the Peruvian Minister, ( lives in Mr. Seward's section, 
and, as he gives a dinner to General Grant this evening, he has 
a small army of coolies watering his plants and trying to induce 
them to smile upon his guests. General Grant lives in Mr. 
Holcombe's apartments ; the Colonel and I are in the pavilion. 
Our naval friends are in Mr. Seward's house, under Dr. Elmore's 
hospitality, which is thoughtful and untiring. The legation offices 
are plain but neatly kept. You have a library with the laws of 
the United States, Congress archives, newspapers and the latest 
mails. In a side room are an English clerk and a Chinese clerk. 
Behind this office is a row of other buildings, where the servants 
live and where the horses are kept. 

" On the evening of our arrival the American residents in 
Pekin called in a body on the General to welcome him and read 
an address. Dinner over, our party entered the legation parlors 
and were presented to the small colony of the favored people 
who have pitched their tents in Pekin. The members of this 
colony are missionaries, members of the customs staff, diploma- 
tists and one or two who have claims or schemes for the con- 
sideration of the Chinese government. After being introduced 
to the General and his party Dr. Martin, the president of the 
Chinese English University, stepped forward and read an 
address, to which the General replied in cordial and appropriate 
terms. 

"Within an hour or two after General Grant's arrival in Pekin 
he was waited upon by the members of the Cabinet, who came 
in a body, accompanied by the military and civil governors of 
Pekin. These are the highest officials in China, men of grace 
and stately demeanor. They were received in Chinese fashion, 
seated around a table covered with sweetmeats, and served with 
tea. The first Secretary brought with him the card of Prince 
Kung, the Prince Regent of the Empire, and said that His Im- 



682 AROUND THE WORLD. 

perial Highness had charged him to present all kind wishes to 
General Grant and to express the hope that the trip in China had 
been pleasant. The Secretary also said that as soon as the 
Prince Reeent heard from the Chinese Minister in Paris that 
General Grant was coming to China, he sent orders to the of- 
ficials to receive him with due honor. The General said that he 
had received nothing but honor and courtesy from China, and 
this answer pleased the Secretary, who said he would be happy 
to carry it to the Prince Regent. 

"General Grant did not ask an audience of the Emperor. The 
Emperor is a child seven years of age, at his books, not in good 
health, and under the care of two old ladies called the empresses. 
When the Chinese Minister in Paris spoke to the General about 
audience, and his regret that the sovereign of China was not of 
age, that he might personally entertain the ex-President, the 
General said he hoped no question of audience would be raised. 
He had no personal curiosity to see the Emperor, and there 
could be no useful object in conversing with a child. 

"As soon as General Grant arrived at Pekin he was met by 
the Secretary of State, who brought the card of Prince Kung, and 
said His Imperial Highness would be glad to see General Grant 
at any time. The General named the succeeding day, at three. 
The General and party left the Legation at half-past two, the 
party embracing Mr. Holcombe, the acting Minister; Colonel 
Grant, Lieutenant Charles Belknap, C. W. Deering and A. Lud- 
low Case, Jr., of the 'Ashuelot.' The way to the Yamen was over 
dirty roads and through a disagreeable part of the town, the day 
being unusually warm, the thermometer marking 101 degrees in 
the shade. This is a trying temperature under the best circum- 
stances, but in Pekin there was every possible condition of dis- 
comfort in addition. When we came to the court-yard of the 
Yamen, the secretaries and a group of mandarins received the 
General and his party and escorted them into the inner court. 
Prince Kung, who was standing at the door, with a group of high 
officers, advanced and saluted the General, and said a few words 
of welcome, which were translated by Mr. Holcombe. 

"The Prince saluted General Grant in Tartar fashion, looking 



CHINA. 683 

at him for a moment with an earnest, curious gaze, like one who 
had formed an ideal of some kind and was anxious to see how 
far his ideal had been realized. The sun was beating down, and 
the party passed into a large, plainly furnished room, where was 
a table laden with Chinese food. The Prince, sitting down at the 
centre, gave General Grant the seat at his left, the post of honor 
in China. He then took up the cards one by one, which had 
been written in Chinese characters on red paper, and asked Mr. 
Holcombe for the name and station of each member of the Gen- 
eral's suite. He spoke to Colonel Grant and asked him the 
meaning of the uniform he wore, the rank it showed and his a^e. 
He asked whether the Colonel was married and had children. 
When told that he had one child, a daughter, the Prince condoled 
him, saying, 'What a pity.' In China, you must remember, that 
female children do not count in the sum of human happiness, and 
when the Prince expressed his regret at the existence of the 
General's granddaughter, he was saying the most polite thing 
he knew. The Prince was polite to the naval officers, inquiring 
the special rank of each, and saying that they must be anxious to 
return home. It was a matter of surprise, of courteous surprise 
and congratulation on the part of the Prince, that the writer had 
seen so many countries as the companion of the General, and he 
said that no doubt I had found things much different elsewhere 
from what I saw in China. Beyond these phrases, the manner 
of which was as perfect as if it had been learned in Versailles, 
under Louis XIV., the conversation was wholly with General 
Grant. 

"The Prince returned to his perusal of the face of the General, 
as though it were an unlearned lesson. He expected a uniformed 
person, a man of the dragon or lion species, who could make a 
great noise. What he saw was a quiet, middle-aged gentleman 
in evening dress, who had ridden a long way in the dust and sun, 
and who was looking in subdued dismay at servants who swarmed 
around him with dishes of soups and sweetmeats, dishes of bird's 
nest soup, sharks' fins, roast ducks, bamboo sprouts, and a tea- 
pot with a hot insipid tipple made of rice, tasting like a remem- 
brance of sherry, which was poured into small silver cups. We 



684 AROUND THE WORLD. 

were none of us hungry. We had had luncheon, and we were 
on the programme for a special banquet in the evening. Here 
was a profuse and sumptuous entertainment. The dinner differed 
from those in Tientsin, Canton and Shanghai, in the fact that it 
was more quiet; there was no display or parade, no crowd of 
dusky servants and retainers hanging around and looking on as 
though at a comedy. I didn't think the Prince himself cared 
much about eating, because he merely dawdled over the bird's 
nest soup and did not touch the sharks' fins. Nor, in fact, did 
any of the ministers, except one, who, in default of our remem- 
bering his Chinese name and rank, one of the party called Ben 
Butler. The dinner, as far as the General was concerned, soon 
merged into a cigar, and the Prince toyed with the dishes as they 
came and went, and smoked his pipe. 

"As princes go, I suppose few are more celebrated than 
Prince Kung. He is a Prince of the Imperial house of China, 
brother of a late emperor and uncle of the present. He wore no 
distinguishing button on his hat, imperial princes being of a rank 
so exalted that even the highest honor known to Chinese nobility 
is too low for them. In place of the latter he wore a small knot 
of dark red silk braid, sewed together so as to resemble a crown. 
His costume was of the ordinary Chinese, plainer if anything than 
the official's. His girdle was trimmed with yellow, and there 
were yellow fringes and tassels attached to his pipe, his fan and 
his pockets. Yellow is the imperial color, and the trimming was 
a mark of princely rank. In appearance the Prince is of middle 
stature, with a sharp, narrow face, a high forehead — made more 
prominent by the Chinese custom of shaving the forehead, and a 
changing, evanescent expression of countenance. He has been 
at the head of the Chinese Qrovernment since the English invasion 
and the burning of the Summer Palace. He was the only prince 
who remained at his post at that time, and consequently when 
the peace came it devolved upon him to make it. This negotia- 
tion gave him a European celebrity and a knowledge of Europeans 
that was of advantage. European Powers have preferred to keep c 
in power a prince with whom they have made treaties before. 
In the politics of China Prince Kung has shown courage and. 



Wf^W^KKf ; ^ 




A CHINESE NOBLEMAN AND HIS WIFE. 



(635) 



686 AROUND THE WORLD. 

ability. When the Emperor, his brother, died, in 1861, a coun- 
cil was formed composed of princes and noblemen of high rank. 
This council claimed to sit by the will of the deceased Emperor. 
The inspiring element was hostility to foreigners. Between this 
Regency and the Prince there was war. The Emperor was a 
child— his own nephew; just as the present Emperor is a child. 
Suddenly a decree, coming from the child Emperor, was read, 
dismissing the Regency, making the Dowager Empress Regent, 
and giving the power to Prince Kung. 

" This decree Prince Kung enforced with vigor, decision and 
success. He arrested the leading members of the Regency, 
charged them with having forged the will under which they 
claimed the Regency and sentenced three of them to death. 
Two of the regents were permitted to commit suicide, but the 
other was beheaded. From that day under the Empresses Prince 
Kung has been the ruler of China. Under the last Emperor the 
party in opposition succeeded in degrading him. I have read the 
decree of degradation as it appeared in the Pekin Gazette. The 
principal accusation against the Prince was that he had been 
haughty and overbearing — which I can well believe. The decree 
was sweeping and decisive. The Prince was degraded, deprived 
of his honors and reduced to the common level. But the power 
of the Prince was not to be destroyed by a decree. In a few 
days appeared another decree, saying that as the Prince had 
crept to the foot of the throne in tears and contrition he had been 
pardoned. The real fact, I suppose, was that the young Emperor 
and the Empress found that the Prince was a power whose wrath 
it was not wise to invoke. Since his restoration to his honors 
his power has been unquestioned, and one of the recent decrees 
conferred new honors upon himself and his son for their loyalty 
to the Empire and especially for their fervent prayers at the 
ceremonies to the manes of the dead Emperor. 

" There were some points in this first conversation that I gather 
up as illustrative of the character of the Prince and his meeting 
with the General. I give them in the form of a dialogue : 

"General Grant — I have lone desired to visit China, but have 
been too busy to do so before. I have been received at every 



CHINA. 687 

point of the trip with the greatest kindness, and I want to thank 
your Imperial Highness for the manner in which the Chinese 
authorities have welcomed me. 

"Prince Kung — When we heard of your coming we were glad. 
We have long known and watched your course, and we have 
always been friends with America. America has never sought 
to oppress China, and we value very much the friendship of 
your country and people. The Viceroy at Tientsin wrote of 
your visit to him. 

"Gene?'al Grant — I had a very pleasant visit to the Viceroy. 
He was anxious for me to visit Pekin and see you. I do not 
wish to leave Pekin without saying how much America values the 
prosperity of China. As I said to the Viceroy, that prosperity 
will be greatly aided by the development of the country. 

"One of the Ministers — We know some of the wonderful things 
your railways have done. 

"Prince King — I suppose your railways and roads have been 
a long time building? 

" General Grant — I am old enough — almost old enough — to 
remember when the first railway was built in the United States, 
and now we have 80,000 miles. I do not know how many miles 
there are under construction, but, notwithstanding the arrest of 
our industries by the war and the recent depression of trade, we 
have continued to build railways. 

"Prince Kung — Are your railways owned by the State ? 

"General Grant — It is not our policy to build roads by the 
State. The State Guaranteed the building of the great road 
across the continent; but this work is the result of private energy 
and private capital. To it we owe a great part of our material 
prosperity. It is difficult to say where we would be now in the 
rank of nations but for our railway system. 

"Prince Kung — China is not insensible to what has been done 
by other nations. 

"A Minister — China is a conservative country, an old Empire 
governed by many traditions, and with a vast population. The 
policy of China is not to move without deliberation. 

"General Grant— -The value of railroads is to disseminate a 



AROUND THE WORLD. 

nation's wealth and enable her to concentrate and use her 
strength. We have a country as large as China — I am not sure 
about the figures excluding Alaska, but I think practically as 
large. We can cross it in seven days by special trains, or in 
an emergency in much less time. We can throw the strength of 
the nation upon any required point in a short time. That makes 
us as strong in one place as another. It leaves us no vulnerable 
points. We cannot be besieged, broken up and destroyed in de- 
tail, as has happened to other large nations. That, however, is 
not the greatest advantage. The wealth and industry of the 
country are utilized. A man's industry in interior States becomes 
valuable because it can reach a market. Otherwise his industry 
would be confined necessarily to his means of subsistence. He 
would not enjoy the benefits enjoyed by his more favored fellow- 
citizens on the ocean or on the laree rivers in communication 
with the markets of the world. This adds to the revenue of the 
country. 

"A Minister — That is a great advantage. China sees these 
thino-s and wants to do them in time. 

"Prince Rung — If the world considers how much China has 
advanced in a few years it will not be impatient. I believe our 
relative progress has been greater than that of most nations. 
There has been no retrocession, and of course we have to 
consider many things that are not familiar to those who do not 
know China. 

" General Grant — I think that progress in China should come 
from inside, from her own people. I am clear on that point. If 
her own people cannot do it it will never be done. You do not 
want the foreigner to come in and put you in debt by lending you 
money and then taking your country. That is not the progress 
that benefits mankind, and we desire no progress either for 
ourselves or for China that is not a benefit to mankind. 

" The ministers all cordially assented to this proposition with 
apparent alacrity. 

"General Grant — For that reason I know of nothing better 
than to send your young men to our schools. We have as good 
schools as there are in the world, where young men can learn 



CHINA. 689 

every branch of science and art. These schools will enable your 
young men to compare the youngest civilization in the world with 
the oldest, and I can assure them of the kindest treatment, not 
only from our teachers but from the people. 

"Prince Ktmg — We have now some students in your American 
colleges. 

"General Grant — Yes, I believe there are some at the college 
where one of my sons studied, Harvard. 

"Prince Rung — We propose to send others to your schools and 
European schools, so long as the results are satisfactory. What 
they learn there they will apply at home. 

"General Grant — I understand China has vast mineral re- 
sources. The Viceroy at Tientsin told me of large coal fields as 
yet undeveloped. If this is so the wealth of such a deposit is in- 
calculable and would be so especially in the East. America and 
England have received enormous advantages from coal and iron. 
I would not dare to say how much Pennsylvania, one of our 
States, has earned from her coal and iron. And the material 
greatness of England, which, after all, underlies her moral great- 
ness, comes from her coal and iron. But your coal will be of 
no use unless you can bring it to a market, and that will require 
railroads. 

" The allusion to the influence the development of the coal 
and iron interests of England had upon her greatness seemed to 
impress the ministers, especially the Secretary of the Treasury, 
who repeated the statement and entered into conversation with 
one of his colleagues on the subject. Prince Kung said nothing, 
but smoked his pipe and delved into the bird's nest soup. The 
dishes for our repast came in an appalling fashion — came by 
dozens — all manner of the odd dishes which China has con- 
tributed to the gastronomy of the age. I am afraid Prince Kung 
was more interested in the success of his dinner than in the 
material prosperity of the nation, and with the refinement of 
politeness characteristic of the Chinese kept piling the General's 
plate with meats and sweetmeats until there was enough before 
him to garnish a Christmas tree. The General, however, had 

taken refuge in a cigar and was beyond temptation. You see 

44 



69O AROUND THE WORLD. 

there is time for a good many things in a Chinese interview. 
What I have written may seem a short conversation. But it was 
really a long conversation. In the first place it was a deliberate ; 
slow conversation. There was a reserve upon the part of the 
Chinese. They were curious and polite. They had heard a 
great deal about the General's coming. It had been talked over 
for weeks in the Yamen. He was the most distinguished stranger 
that had ever visited China. He had been the head of the Ameri- 
can government, and it was a surprise that no amount of discus- 
sion could appease, that having been the head of the government 
he should now come with all the honors his own government 
could give him. I am afraid, also, the want of a uniform had its 
influence upon the imagination of the Yamen, so that our inter- 
view never lost its character of a surprise. General Grant orc 
his part was anxious to do what he could to induce the Chinese 
to come more and more within the limits of European civilization.. 
He had spoken in this sense to the Viceroy in Canton, to the 
Viceroy in Tientsin, who may be called the Wellington of China^ 
and to all the officials with whom he had come in relations. I do 
not suppose that he would have cared about it, or that he would 
have allowed his visit to go beyond mere study and curiosity, had 
he not seen that opportunities had fallen to him such as had 
fallen to no other stranger who had ever come to China. There 
was every disposition on the part of the Chinese to be courteous 
to General Grant. But they are a polite people, and courtesy 
requires no effort and amounts to little. But the action of the 
naval authorities, of the diplomatic and consular authorities, the 
respect paid him by foreign representatives, the extraordinary 
demonstration in Shanghai, all contributed to invest the coming 
of the General with a meaning that the Chinese could nofc over- 
look. General Grant felt, not alone as an American, but as a 
representative of the advanced civilization of the world, that this 
opportunity, like what fell to him in Siam, was really a duty, and 
this accounts for the earnestness with which he pressed upon 
Prince Kung and the Yamen the necessity of Chinese progress. 
"We could not remain long enough in the Yamen to finish 
the dinner, as we had an engagement to visit the college for the 



CHINA. 



69I 




INTERIOR OF A CHINESE TEMPLE, SHOWING THEIR IDOLS 



teaching of an English education to young Chinese. This insti- 
tution is under the direction of Dr. Martin, an American, and 
the buildings adjoin the Yamen. Consequently, on taking leave 
of the Prince, who said he would call and see the General at 
the Legation, we walked a few steps and were escorted into the 
class-room of the college. Dr. Martin presented General Grant 
to the students and professors, and one of the students read an 
address, to which General Grant replied briefly." 

■■ During his stay at Pekin Prince Kung had an important inter- 
view with General Grant, in which he asked him to use his o-ood 



692 AROUND THE WORLD. 

offices with the Government of Japan, in order that an honorable 
and peaceable settlement of the question at issue between the 
two countries concerning the Loo Choo Islands might be had. 
The following conversation took place between the Prince 
Regent and the General : 

"Prince Kung — There is one question about which I am 
anxious to confer with you. The Viceroy of Tientsin writes us 
that he has mentioned it to you. And if we could secure your 
good offices, or your advice, it would be a great benefit, not only 
to us, but to all nations, and especially in the East. I refer to 
the questions now pending between China and Japan. 

"General Grant — In reference to the trouble in the Loo Choo 
Islands ? 

"Prince Kung — Yes ; about the sovereignty of Loo Choo and 
the attempt of the Japanese to extinguish a kingdom which has 
always been friendly and whose sovereign has always paid us 
tribute, not only the present sovereign, but his ancestors for 
centuries. 

"General Grant — The Viceroy spoke to me on the subject and 
has promised to renew the subject on my return to Tientsin. 
Beyond the casual reference of the Viceroy in the course of con- 
versations on the occasion of interviews that were confined 
mainly to ceremonies I am entirely ignorant of the questions. 

"Prince Kung — We all feel a great delicacy in referring to 
this or any other matter of business on the occasion of your visit 
to Pekin — a visit that we know to be one of pleasure and that 
should not be troubled by business. I should not have ventured 
upon such a liberty if I had not been informed by the Viceroy of 
the kind manner in which you received his allusions to the matter 
and your known devotion to peace and justice. I feel that I 
should apologize even for the reference I have made, which I 
would not have ventured upon but for the report of the Viceroy 
and our conviction that one who has had so high a place in deter- 
mining the affairs of the world can have no higher interest than 
furthering peace and justice. 

"General Grant — I told the Viceroy that anything I could do 
in the interest of peace was my duty and my pleasure. I can 



CHINA. 693 

conceive of no higher office for any man. But I am not in office. 
I am merely a private citizen, journeying about like others, with 
no share in the Government and no power. The Government 
has given me a ship of war whenever I can use it without inter- 
fering- with its duties, but that is all. 

"Prince King — I quite understand that, and this led to the 
expression of my regret at entering upon the subject. But we 
all know how vast your influence must be, not only upon your 
people at home, but upon all nations who know what you have 
done, and who know that whatever question you considered 
would be considered with patience and wisdom and a desire for 
justice and peace. You are going to Japan as the guest of the 
people and the Emperor, and will have opportunities of present- 
ing our views to the Emperor of Japan and of showing him that 
we have no policy but justice. 

" General Grant — Yes, I am going to Japan as the guest of the 
Emperor and nation. 

"Prince Kung — That affords us the opportunity that we cannot 
overlook. The Viceroy writes us that he has prepared a state- 
ment of the whole case, drawn from the records of our Empire, 
and he will put you in possession of all the facts from our point 
of view. 

"General Grant — The King of the Loo Choo Islands has, I 
believe, paid tribute to China as well as Japan ? 

"Prince Kung — For generations. I do not know how long 
with Japan, but for generations Loo Choo has recognized the 
sovereignty of China. Not alone during the present, but in the 
time of the Ming Emperors, the dynasty that preceded our own, 
this recognition was unchallenged, and Loo Choo became as well 
known as an independent Power in the East owing allegiance 
only to our Emperor as any other part of our dominions. 

"General Grant — Has Japan made her claim upon Loo Choo 
a subject of negotiation with China? Has she ever presented 
your Government with her view of her claim to the islands? 

"Prince Kung — Japan has a Minister in Pekin. He came here 
some time since amid circumstances of ostentation, and great 
importance was attached to his coming. There was a great deal 



694 AROUND THE WORLD. 

said about it at the time, and it was said that the interchange of 
Ministers would be of much importance to both nations. We 
sent a Minister to Japan, an able and prudent man, who is there 
now. This showed our desire to reciprocate. We supposed, of 
course, that when the Japanese Minister came there would be a 
complete explanation and understanding in Loo Choo. We wel- 
comed his coming in this spirit and in the interest of peace. 
When he came to the Yamen, and we brought up Loo Choo, 
he knew nothing about the subject. Nothing about the wishes 
or the attitude of his Government. We naturally inquired what 
brought him here as a Minister. Of what use was a Minister, if 
he could not transact business of such vital consequence to both 
nations and to the peace of the world ? He said he had certain 
matters connected with the trade of the two countries to discuss 
— something of that kind. It seemed almost trifling with us to 
say so. When we presented our case he said that anything we 
would write or say he would transmit to his Government — no 
more. He was only a post-office. When our Minister in Japan 
presented the subject to the authorities he had no better satisfac- 
tion, and was so dissatisfied that he wrote to us asking permis- 
sion to request his passports and withdraw. But we told him to 
wait and be patient, and do nothing to lead to war, or that might 
be construed as seeking war on our part. 

"General Grant— Any course short of national humiliation or 
national destruction is better than war. War in itself is so great 
a calamity that it should only be invoked when there is no way 
of saving a nation from a greater. War, especially in the East, 
and between two countries like Japan and China, would be a 
misfortune — a great misfortune. 

"Ptince Kung — A great misfortune to the outside and neutral 
Powers as well. War in the East would be a heavy blow to the 
trade upon which other nations so much depend. That is one 
reason why China asks your good offices and hopes for those of 
your Government and of your Minister to Japan. We have been 
told of the kind disposition of Mr. Bingham toward us. Our 
Minister has told us of that ; and one reason why we kept our 
Minister in Japan under circumstances which would have justi- 



CHINA. 695 

fied another Power in withdrawing him, was because we knew 
of Mr. Bingham's sentiments and we were awaiting his return. 
It is because such a war as japan seems disposed to force on 
China would be peculiarly distressing to foreign Powers that we 
have asked them to interfere. 

"General Grant — How far have the Japanese gone in Loo 
Choo ? 

"Prince Runs' — The King- of the islands has been taken to 
Japan and deposed. The sovereignty has been extinguished. 
A Japanese official has been set up. We have made a study of 
international law as written by your English and American au- 
thors, whose text-books are in Chinese. If there is any force in 
the principles of international law as recognized by your nations, 
the extinction of the Loo Choo sovereignty is a wrong, and one 
that other nations should consider. 

"General Grant — It would seem to be a high-handed proceed- 
ing to arrest a ruler and take him out of the country, unless there 
is war or some grave provocation. 

"Prince Ktmg — If there was provocation, if Japan had suffered 
any wrong in Loo Choo that justified extreme action, why does 
not her Ambassador at our Court or their own ministers at home 
in dealing with our embassy give us an explanation ? China is a 
peaceful nation. Her policy has been peace. No nation will 
make more sacrifices for peace, but forbearance cannot be used 
to our injury, to the humiliation of the Emperor and a violation 
of our rights. On this subject we feel strongly, and when the 
Viceroy wrote the Emperor from Tientsin that he had spoken to 
you on the subject, and that you might be induced to use your 
good offices with Japan, and with your offices your great name 
and authority, we rejoiced in what may be a means of escaping 
from a responsibility which no nation would deplore more than 
myself. 

"General Grant — As I said before, my position here and my 
position at home are not such as to give any assurance that my 
good offices would be of any value. Here I am a traveller, see- 
ing sights, and looking at new manners and customs. At home I 
am simply a private citizen, with no voice in the councils of the 
Government and no right to speak for the Government. 



696 AROUND THE WORLD. 

"Prince Kung (with a smile) — We have a proverb in Chinese 
that ' No business is business ' — in other words, that real affairs, 
great affairs, are more frequently transacted informally, when 
persons meet, as we are meeting now, over a table of entertain- 
ment for social and friendly conversation, than in solemn business 
sessions at the Yamen. I value the opportunities of this conver- 
sation, even in a business sense, more than I could any conver- 
sation with ambassadors. 

"General Grant — I am much complimented by the confidence 
you express and in that expressed by the Viceroy. It would 
afford me the greatest pleasure — I know of no pleasure that could 
be greater — to be the means, by any counsel or effort of mine, in 
preserving peace, and especially between two nations in which I 
feel so deep an interest as I do in China and Japan. I know 
nothing about this Loo Choo business except what I have heard 
from the Viceroy and yourself, and an occasional scrap in the 
newspapers, to which I paid little attention, as I had no interest 
in it. I know nothing of the merits of the case. I am going to 
Japan, and I shall take pleasure in informing myself on the sub- 
ject in conversing with the Japanese authorities. I have no idea 
what their argument is. They, of course, have an argument. I 
do not suppose that the rulers are inspired by a desire to wan- 
tonly injure China. I will acquaint myself with the Chinese side 
of the case, as Your Imperial Highness and the Viceroy have 
presented it, and promise to present it. I will do what I can to 
learn the Japanese side. Then, if I can, in conversation with the 
Japanese authorities, do anything that will be a service to the 
cause of peace, you may depend upon my good offices. But, as 
I have said, I have no knowledge on the subject, and have no 
idea what opinion I may entertain when I have studied it. 

"Prince Kung — We are profoundly grateful for this promise. 
China is quite content to rest her case with your decision, given,, 
as we know it will be, after care and with wisdom and justice. 
If the Japanese Government will meet us in this spirit all will be 
well. I shall send orders to our Minister in Japan to wait upon 
you as soon as you reach Japan, and to speak with you on the 
subject. Your willingness to do this will be a new claim to the 



CHINA. 697 

respect in which you are held in China, and be a continuance of 
that friendship shown to us by the United States, and especially 
by Mr. Burlingame, whose death we all deplored and whose 
name is venerated in China. 

"An allusion was made to the convention between Great 
Britain and America on the 'Alabama' question — the arbitration 
and the settlement of a matter that might have embroiled the 
two countries. This was explained to His Imperial Highness as 
a precedent that it would be well to follow now. The Prince 
was thoroughly familiar with the 'Alabama' negotiations. 

"General Grant — An arbitration between nations may not sat- 
isfy either party at the time; but it satisfies the conscience of the 
world, and must commend itself more and more as a means of 
adjusting disputes. 

"Prince Kung — The policy of China is one of reliance upon 
justice. We are willing to have any settlement that is honor- 
able and that will be considered by other nations as honorable to 
us. We desire no advantage over Japan. But, at the same 
time, we are resolved to submit to no wrong from Japan. On 
that point there is but one opinion in our Government. It is the 
opinion of the Viceroy, one of the great officers of the Empire,, 
and, like yourself, not only a great soldier, but an advocate 
always of a peaceful policy, of concession, compromise and con- 
ciliation. It is my own opinion, and I have always, as one largely 
concerned in the affairs of the Empire and knowing what war 
entails, been in favor of peace. It is the opinion of the Yamen. 
I do not know of any dissension among those who serve the 
throne. Our opinion is that we cannot, under any circumstances, 
submit to the claims of Japan. We cannot consent to the ex- 
tinction of a sovereignty, of an independence that has existed for 
so long a time under our protection. If Japan insists upon her 
present position, there must be war. 

"General Grant — What action on the part of Japan would 
satisfy China ? 

"Prince Kung — We would be satisfied with the situation as it 
was. 

"General Grant — That is to say, Loo Choo paying tribute ta 
Japan and China? 



698 AROUND THE WORLD. 

"Prince Kung — We do not concern ourselves with what tribute 
the King of Loo Choo pays to Japan or any other Power. We 
never have done so, and, although there is every reason an Em- 
pire should not allow other nations to exact tribute from its vassals, 
we are content with things as they have been, not only under the 
dynasty of my own ancestors and family, but under the dynasty 
of the Mings. We desire Japan to restore the King she has 
captured and taken away, to withdraw her troops from Loo Choo 
and abandon her claims to exclusive sovereignty over the island. 
This is our position. Other questions are open to negotiation 
and debate. This is not open, because it is a question of the 
integrity of the Empire. And the justice of our position will be 
felt by any one who studies the case and compares the violence 
and aggression of Japan with the patience and moderation of 
China. 

"General Grant — I shall certainly see the Viceroy on my return 
to Tientsin, and converse with him, and read the documents I 
understand he is preparing. I shall also, when I meet the Japan- 
ese authorities, do what I can to learn their case. If I can be of 
any service in adjusting the question and securing peace, I shall 
be rejoiced, and it will be no less a cause of rejoicing if, in doing 
so, I can be of any service to China, or be enabled to show my 
appreciation of the great honor she has shown to me during 
my visit, and of the unvarying friendship she has shown our 
country." 

From Pekin General Grant and his party returned to Tientsin. 
Immediately upon the General's arrival the Viceroy called upon 
him. 

" When Prince Kung saw General Grant in Pekin," says Mr. 
Young, in his letter to The New York Herald, "he said he would 
write to the Viceroy to see the General and continue the con- 
versation on the matter at issue with Japan. General Grant 
reached Tientsin in the morning, and at an early hour — before 
breakfast — the General received a message from the Viceroy 
that he was on his way. Very soon the viceregal procession was 
seen coming, the gongs were heard beating, and amid the firing 
of cannon, the roll of drums and military honors, the Viceroy's 



CHINA. 699 

chair was carried to the Consulate steps. General Grant, ac- 
companied by Minister Seward and Consul Denny, was waiting 
on the veranda, and as the Viceroy stepped out of his chair the 
General advanced and welcomed him. Together they passed 
into an inner room and received tea and sweetmeats in Chinese 
fashion. 

" The Viceroy spoke of the stories which came to China of the 
oppressions of the Chinese by evil-disposed persons in Califor- 
nia, and said that China was compelled to trust entirely to the 
justice of other nations in the treatment of her people. 

"General Grant 
said that he had no 
doubt that the sto- 
ries of ill-treatment 
were exaggerated; 
that neither in Cali- 
fornia nor in any set- 
tled section in the 
Union would vio- 
lence be allowed as 
a rule to any class. 
The fact that China- 
men come to Ameri- 
ca in a constantly 
increasing stream 
showed that they 
were not deterred 
by violence. The 
cases that did occur li-hung-chang, viceroy of Tientsin. 

were sporadic, and deplored and punished. 

" The Viceroy said that in China the safety and protection of 
all people was a matter of imperial concern ; that foreign nations 
held the imperial government responsible. 

" General Grant answered by explaining the relations of the 
States to the general government, showing the existence of three 
powers in the State — legislative, judicial and executive — and that 
while the Executive was a part of the government he was not 




yOO AROUND THE WORLD. 

altogether so. The Executive of the United States, no matter 
what party succeeded, would look at the Chinese question from 
the highest point of view, and not as the Governor of a State 
like California. ' There will be no Executive,' said the General, 
'who will not do all he can to protect the people, Chinese or 
Europeans. The opposition to the Chinese at home comes from 
various causes. There is a class of thriftless, discontented ad- 
venturers, agitators and communists, who do not work themselves 
and go about sowing discontent among honest workingmen. 
This class is always ready for trouble, and of course as soon as 
there is trouble the criminal class asserts itself. The class 
always has a grievance over which to fight and disturb society. 
Sometimes it is a religious outbreak like what was seen thirty 
years ago or thereabouts when there was an uprising against 
Catholics, or more recently in New York, when there was a fatal 
street fight arising out of an attack of Protestants by Catholics. 
During the war the grievance was the negro, and there was an 
outbreak in New York that required us to withdraw troops from 
the field, in presence of the enemy, to put it down. Two years 
ago it was war upon railways, in which millions were destroyed. 
Your Excellency can understand that in all large nations the tur- 
bulent class can give trouble. What they want is trouble. The 
pretext is nothing. Then we have demagogues in politics — men 
who know better, but who always seek advancement by pander- 
ing to this class. I attribute the worst features of the Chinese 
agitation — the threats of violence, the outbreaks in sections of 
California — to this class, the agitators and communists, men who 
believe that nothing is right that is orderly and legal, and the 
criminal classes. Your Excellency may rest assured that the 
great mass of the American people will never consent to any 
injustice toward China or any class.' 

" The Viceroy said that his Government never lost its confi- 
dence in the justice of the United States. If there was a griev- 
ance — a real grievance — { n America on account of the emiora- 
tion of Chinamen to that country, his Government was prepared 
to do what it could to remove it. 

" General Grant answered that the Chinese question at home 



CHINA. 70I 

was not free from embarrassments — serious embarrassments. ' I 
am ready to admit,' he said, ' that the Chinese have been of great 
service to our country. I do not know what the Pacific coast 
would be without them. They came to our aid at a time when 
their aid was invaluable. In the competition between their labor 
and ours, of course, if we cannot hold our own, we confess our 
weakness and go to the wall. If the Chinaman surpasses us in 
industry, thrift and ingenuity, no law can arrest the consequences 
of that superiority. I have never been alarmed about that, how- 
ever. The trouble about your countrymen coming to America is 
that they come under circumstances which make them slaves. 
They do not come of their own free will. They do not come to 
stay, bringing their wives and children. Their labor is not their 
own, but the property of capitalists. On that point our best peo- 
ple feel very strongly, because we consider nothing so carefully 
as the elements that go toward building up the nation. Its future 
depends on that. We had slavery some years since, and we only 
freed ourselves from slavery at the cost of a dreadful war, in 
which hundreds of thousands of lives were lost and thousands 
of millions of dollars spent Having made these sacrifices to 
suppress slavery in one form, we do not feel like encouraging it 
in another, in the insidious form of coolie emigration. That is a 
wrong to your government and our own. and to the people 
especially.' 

"The Viceroy said that it was a mistake to suppose that the 
emigration of the Chinese to America or to any other part of the 
world was the desire of the government. If the government h ac } 
its way it would keep all the Chinamen at home. 

"General Grant said that this was natural. 

"The Viceroy continued that he was willing to consider any 
proposition to relieve the Americans from the burden of Chinese 
emigration. 

" General Grant said, ' You can put a stop to the slavery 
system.' 

" The Viceroy answered that the government would do so if 
possible. But many things were hard to do, like, for instance, 
the suppression of the opium traffic, which was the desire of 
every statesman in China. 



702 AROUND THE WORLD. 

"General Grant — If you can stop the slavery feature, then 
emigration from China is like emigration from other countries. 
Then, as there is a complaint on the Pacific coast of Chinamen 
coming too rapidly, coming so as to glut the labor market, emi- 
gration might be stopped for a period — for three or five years. 
I infer from what you say that, with the indisposition of the gov- 
ernment to have Chinamen leave home, there would be no 
objection to such a measure. 

" The Viceroy said that he was glad he had the expression of 
the General's views as to what would be satisfactory to the United 
States. They would have great influence with his government, 
and he would communicate them to Prince Kung. At the same 
time he hoped that the General would use his influence to secure 
protection to the Chinese now in America. The government 
was distressed when it heard of the attacks on Chinamen. 

" General Grant said that it was not alone his duty to do that, 
but the duty of all citizens. But the Chinese could have no better 
protector than the present administration. Mr. Hayes will do 
all a President can do. ' You have,' he continued, ' many young 
Chinamen in our schools. What reports do they send home?' 

" The Viceroy answered that the reports were most satisfactory. 
They were treated with kindness, and he wished to send more. 
He was anxious to send some to West Point. The government 
had tried to do this before, but the Americans, to his surprise 
and grief, would not consent. 

"General Grant — Yes, I remember. I was anxious to have 
this done. The proposal was defeated, mainly, if I remember, 
through the influence of Mr. Casserly, then Senator from Cali- 
fornia. I wish yqu would send some of your boys to West 
Point. It is one of the best schools in the world. 

"The Viceroy asked whether there was any idea that another 
application to the American Government would be favorably 
entertained. 

" General Grant said he did not know ; he had been away 
from home so long that he did not know the public temper. 
' But,' he continued, ' if there is any trouble about entering the 
schools why not do like the Siamese government ? We have on 



CHINA. 703 

board one of our men-of-war in the China waters two Siamese 
noblemen, one a brother of the King, who entered as seaman. 
They are now serving before the mast. That was the way sea- 
manship was learned in the past, and although it was, of course, 
not as good as the school, it was a great deal. Why would not 
the Chinese do the same thing with their young men — with 
youths of intelligence and good family ? 

"The Viceroy said he would be delighted. If General Grant 
would use his good offices and would secure the admission of 
young men on men-of-war he would send them. 

"The Viceroy said he was anxious to have the advice and aid 
of the Americans so far as possible. There were several things 
which could be learned from Americans, and in that event he 
would like General Grant to select competent persons. There 
was General Upton, who had been in China. He wanted him 
to take a post. 

"■General Grant — General Upton is a distinguished and able 
officer. When Mr. Burlingame was alive he asked me to name 
an officer to enter your service and organize the army. I selected 
Upton. But Mr. Burlingame died and the matter fell through. 
General Upton has a high rank in our regular army, especially 
for a young man, and I have no idea that he would care to leave. 
But there is no nation in the world where there are so many 
competent military men as in America. The war was an edu- 
cator, and so large a proportion of the population, North and 
South, were in the army that at the close there was scarcely any 
department of business or industry where you could not find men 
competent to hold high commands. 

" The Viceroy asked General Grant whether at the close of 
the war any difficulty was experienced in sending the soldiers 
back to civil life. 

" General Grant replied that, on the contrary, the men who 
had been in the army reverted to their old homes and occupa- 
tions and became the best portions of society. He did not think 
it a reflection upon those who did not go into the war to say that 
no classes were more loyal, industrious and peaceful than those 
who had been in the war. 



704 AROUND THE WORLD. 

" The Viceroy asked if this was true of the South as well as 
the North. 

"General Grant — Of the South as well as the North. The 
soldiers of the Southern army have shown themselves by all 
odds the best part of the Southern population. Our armies 
were not mercenaries — not on either side. Mercenary armies 
give trouble. No people are more peaceable in civil life than 
those who have seen war. They know what war is. 

" The Viceroy said he knew that the General was not a diplo- 
matist nor an official. But for this purpose he might say that 
neither was he an official. When he heard that the General 
was coming to China his heart was glad, for he felt that he could 
talk to him about Loo Choo. If the General chose to speak on 
the subject he would speak with an authority greater than that 
of any diplomatist. There were men to whose words nations 
would listen, and the General was one of those men. His own 
government was willing to put its case unreservedly in his hands, 
and as he was going- to see the Mikado a word from him to that 
sovereign might serve the cause of peace and justice. 

"The General said if he could ever speak words with such a 
result, he would not hesitate to speak them. As to the Loo Choo 
question, he knew nothing beyond what he had heard from 
Prince Kunor. He miorit add that since seeingr Prince Kung he 
had conversed with Mr. Seward and others, and had heard their 
opinions. But he felt that he knew only the Chinese case, or 
at least a hurried statement of the case, and he had no idea what 
his view might be when he conversed with the Japanese. 

"The Viceroy opened a volume in Chinese containing the 
treaties, and read from an early treaty made when Mr. Cushing 
was Minister, in which the United States held herself ready to 
offer her good services between China and other Powers in the 
event of any question arising. He asked whether the General 
did not think the difference with Japan about Loo Choo did not 
come within the limits of the treaty. 

" General Grant read over the clause and said he thought 
it did. 

" The Viceroy then read from the Burlingame treaty assurances 



CHINA. 705 

of the same character. He read from a treaty between China 
and Japan engagements on the part of the two countries not to 
invade the territory of the others. He pointed out the existence 
of a treaty between the United States and the Loo Choo Islands, 
showing that the American government dealt with the Loo Choo 
King as an independent Power. He then called the attention of 
the General to the international law on the subject, and held that 
the course of Japan was one that called for the intervention of 
outside Powers. Otherwise there was no use of that interna- 
tional law which foreign nations were always quoting to China. 

" General Grant said the argument seemed to be sound, but it 
belonged to diplomacy. From the fact that the Viceroy quoted 
a treaty in which the United States acknowledged the Loo Choo 
Islands as an independent Power, he supposed that China, in 
dealing with Japan, was also willing to regard them as an inde- 
pendent Power. 

" The Viceroy said as an independent Power, certainly. But, 
to be entirely accurate, Loo Choo should be described as a semi- 
dependent Power. China had never exercised sovereignty 
over the islands, and did not press that claim. But China was 
as much concerned in the maintenance of the independence of a 
Power holding toward her coasts the relations of Loo Choo as in 
the integrity of her inland territory. As a matter of fact, because 
of the great powers allowed by China always to her provinces 
and dependencies, the emperors had never exercised the rights 
of sovereignty over Loo Choo. As a matter of law and right, 
however, the right was never alienated, and the sovereigns of 
Loo Choo always respected it by paying tribute to China until 
Japan came in and forbade the tribute. 

"General Grant asked if the sovereign did not also pay tribute 
to Japan. 

" The Viceroy — In this way. Before the revolution in Japan, 
and the consolidation of the power of the princes into the im- 
perial power, the feudal lords had great authority. They did as 
they pleased. Perhaps none of these lords were more powerful 
than the Satsuma princes. These princes occupied the islands 
of Japan nearest to Loo Choo. To protect themselves from the 

45 



7o6 AROUND THE WORLD. 

raids and exactions of the Satsuma princes the Loo Choo people 
paid tribute only to the princes, never to Japan. Well, when the 
revolution came, and the powers of the princes were absorbed, 
the Emperor claimed that the payment of tribute to the princes 
was recognition of the sovereignty of Japan. That is the only 
claim that the Japanese have ever made. 

"The Viceroy said, from all he could learn the Mikado was not 
in favor of any policy like that shown in the occupation of Loo 
Choo. But there was a party — among them men like the Princes 
of Satsuma— who were urging the Japanese to annexation. His 
own belief was that if the foreign Powers were to strengthen the 
Mikado in resisting the wishes of this party, its influence would 
die out, and the Loo Choo Islands be restored. 

"General Grant wished to know if the Viceroy had had any 
expression from the foreign Powers. 

"The Viceroy said he believed that Mr. Bingham, the Ameri- 
can Minister, was friendly to the views of China. He supposed 
so, at least, from the anxiety in Pekin to have Mr. Bingham re- 
turn to Japan. Of the wishes of the other Powers he had no 
information beyond rumor. 

" General Grant felt certain that Mr. Bingham would consider 
the matter. He (Mr. Bingham) had just returned from home, 
and no doubt had been in conference with Mr. Evarts. He 
would see Mr. Bingham as soon as he reached Japan, and learn 
all the facts. He did not know what he could do, or how far he 
would go until he saw Mr. Bingham. 

" The Viceroy asked if the General found, on reaching Japan, 
that Mr. Bingham had given no attention to the subject, or had 
formed opinions hostile to negotiation, he would then pursue 
the matter. 

" General Grant said, of course, if he found that so important 
a question had been overlooked by the Minister, and if it was in 
a position where he as a private gentleman could aid the cause 
of peace, he would do all he could. But he had every confidence 
in Mr. Bingham. 

" The Viceroy said this confidence was shared by the Chinese. 
But Prince Kung and himself laid especial stress upon the name 



CHINA. 707 

and influence of the General. The Loo Choo question could not 
be considered as within the range of diplomatic action. The 
Japanese had not allowed it a diplomatic standing. Consequently 
there was no chance of reaching a solution by the ordinary 
methods of diplomacy. How can you talk to ministers and gov- 
ernments about matters which they will not discuss ? But when 
a man like General Grant comes to China and Japan, he comes 
with an authority which gives him power to make peace. In the 
interest of peace China asks the General to interest himself. 
China cannot consent to the position Japan has taken. On that 
point there is no indecision in the councils of the government. 
The Viceroy had no fear of Japan or of the consequences of any 
conflict which Japan would force upon China. 

"General Grant said his hope and belief were that the diffi- 
culty would end peacefully and honorably. He appreciated the 
compliment paid him by the Chinese government. The Viceroy 
and Prince Kung overrated his power, but not his wish, to pre- 
serve peace, and especially to prevent such a deplorable thing as 
a war between China and Japan. When he reached Japan he 
would confer with Mr. Bingham and see how the matter stood. 
He would study the Japanese case as carefully as he proposed 
studying the Chinese case. He would, if possible, confer with 
the Japanese authorities. What his opinion would be when he 
heard both sides he could not anticipate. If the question took 
such a shape that, with advantage to the cause of peace and 
without interfering with the wishes of his own government, he 
could advise or aid in a solution, he would be happy, and, as he 
remarked to Prince Kung, this happiness would not be dimin- 
ished if, in doing so, his action did not disappoint the Chinese 
government. 

"The Viceroy said, with a smile, that he had received much 
pleasure from the kind words spoken by the General about 
China, and he hoped that they would not be forgotten when the 
General became President again. Of course the General would 
become President again, and the Viceroy hoped this would be, 
and that when President the General would remember him and 
write to him. 



yoS AROUND THE WORLD. 

"General Grant — Your Excellency is very kind, but there 
could be no wish more distasteful to me than what you express. 
I have held the office of President as long as it has ever been 
held by any man. There are others who have risen to great 
distinction at home and who have earned the honor who are 
worthy, and to them it belongs, not to me. I have no claims to 
the office. It is a place distasteful to me, a place of hardships 
and responsibilities. When I was a younger man these hard- 
ships were severe and never agreeable. They would be worse 
now. 

" The Viceroy — But you are a young man, and your experi- 
ence would be of value. 

"General Grant — No man who knows what the Presidency 
imposes would care to see a friend in the office. I have had my 
share of it — have had all the honors that can be or should be 
given to any citizen, and there are many able and distinguished 
men who have earned the office. To one of them it should be 
given. 

"The Viceroy, smiling, said that the General showed himself 
to be what he always heard — a modest man — and that he still 
hoped, for the good relations between China and America alone, 
that he would be again President. The Viceroy said he had 
read in some Chinese papers translations from the American 
papers about the great reception that was awaiting the General 
in California, and supposed he would time his arrival so as to 
meet it. 

"General Grant — I would much rather time my arrival so as to 
avoid it. But most of these paragraphs are exaggerations, and 
others are written in an unfriendly spirit. It is possible some per- 
sonal friends may come to meet me from the East — a half-dozen, 
perhaps — who will take the occasion to run over to California. I 
have a good many friends on the Pacific coast whom I will be glad 
to see. But my time of return is unknown and indefinite, and the 
stories that have crept into the Chinese papers about monster 
excursions are exaggerations. 

"The Viceroy said he read them with pleasure, and hoped they 
were true. 



CHINA. 709 

" So came to an end an interesting" and extraordinary 
conversation." 

While in Pekin General Grant was informed that the " Rich- 
mond," so long expected, was at the mouth of the Peiho river, 
and would convey him to Japan, so, after his return to Tientsin, 
preparations were made for a speedy departure. 

" When General Grant returned to Tientsin," says Mr. Young, 
in his letter to The New York Herald, " he became the guest of 
Judge Denny, our esteemed and popular Consul. Mr. Detring, 
the Customs Commissioner, gave a dinner and evening party in 
honor of General Grant and the Viceroy. As I have said, the 
Viceroy, for the first time in his career and in the career of 
Chinese statesmen, has met Europeans in social intercourse, at a 
dinner-table with ladies present. Woman does not hold a posi- 
tion in China that justifies Chinamen in meeting as an equal even 
the ladies of European and American families. Accordingly, when 
the Viceroy expressed his willingness to attend dinner parties at 
which ladies were present, there was some anxiety to know what 
should be done with them. Mr. Dillon, the French Consul, solved 
the problem by massing all the ladies together on one side of the 
table and the gentlemen on the other. The Viceroy and Gen- 
eral Grant walked in alone and ahead. Then the ladies, while 
the remainder of the guests placed themselves in the odd spaces. 
Mr. Detring made a step in advance at his dinner, and the ladies 
went in to dinner escorted by the gentlemen in European fashion, 
the Viceroy walking ahead and alone. The dinner was served 
in a temporary dining-room arranged on the veranda, with flags 
of all nations forming shelter. There were forty guests present, 
including the Viceroy and suite, General Grant and party, Mr. 
Seward, our Minister, who had just come from America, the 
members of the Consular body and their wives, officers of the 
navy, and leading citizens. In all there were about fifty guests. 
When the dinner was over Mr. Detring arose and made a brief 
.speech in the name of the Viceroy. In this speech the Viceroy 
spoke with feeling of the pleasure it had given him to meet Gen- 
eral Grant, how he had looked for his coming, how anxious he was 
to meet him, how much he had enjoyed the visit, and hoped 



7IO AROUND THE WORLD. 

that General Grant would not forget him when he returned 
home, but regard him as a friend and admirer. The speech 
was manly and simple, but its real value was in the fact that it 
was the speech of the foremost man in China — of a man whose 
name will be remembered as among the greatest of Chinese 
soldiers and statesmen. General Grant acknowledged the Vice- 
roy's speech. 

" Immediately after the dinner General Grant and party went 
on board the 'Ashuelot' There we spoke our farewells to our 
kind friends and said our good-by as lovers are said to prefer 
doing — under the stars. Our visit had been so pleasant, there 
had been so much grace and courtesy and consideration in our 
reception, that it was with sincere regret that we said farewell. 
The Viceroy had sent word that he would not take his leave of 
General Grant until we were on the border of his dominions 
and out at sea. He had gone ahead on his yacht, and with a 
fleet of gunboats, and would await us at the mouth of the river 
and accompany the General on board of the ' Richmond.' We 
left our mooring at three in the morning, and were awakened by 
the thunder of the guns from the forts. Orders had been given 
that the forts should fire salutes as the General passed, that the 
troops should parade and the vessels dress with flags. The day 
was warm and clear, and there was Oriental splendor in the 
scene as we slowly moved along the narrow stream and saw the 
people hurrying from the villages to the river side, and the smoke 
that came from the embrasures, and the clumsy, stolid junks 
teeming with sight-seers, the lines of soldiery and the many 
colored pennants fluttering in the air. The river widened as we 
came to the sea, and about eleven o'clock we came to the vice- 
regal fleet at anchor under the guns of the Waku forts. As we 
passed every vessel manned yards, and all their guns and all the 
ofuns from the forts thundered a farewell. Two or three miles 
out we saw the tapering masts of the ' Richmond,' which, after 
so long a chase, had at last found General Grant. The 'Ashue- 
lot' answered the salute and steamed over the bar at half-speed, 
so as to allow the Viceroy's fleet to join us. The bar was crossed 
and the blue sea welcomed us, and we kept on direct toward the 



CHINA. 711 

* Richmond.' In a short time the white smoke was seen leaping 
from her deck. The sailors rushed up the sides and we swung 
around amid the thunder of her guns. Then Captain Benham 
came on board and was presented to General Grant. The 
Chinese fleet came to an anchor, and at noon precisely Gen- 
eral Grant passed over the side of the 'Ashuelot.' On reaching 
the ' Richmond ' the General was received by another salute, all 
the officers being on deck in full uniform. The American ensign 
was run up at the fore and another salute was fired, the Chinese 
vessels joining in. 

"After the General had been received the barge was sent to 
the Viceroy's boat, and in a few minutes was seen returning with 
Li-Hung Chang, followed by other boats carrying the high offi- 
cers of his government. General Grant received the Viceroy, 
and again the yards were manned and a salute of nineteen guns 
was fired. The Viceroy and his suite were shown into the cabin. 
Tea was served, and Li-Hung Chang having expressed a desire 
to see the vessel, he was taken into every part, gave its whole 
arrangement, and especially the guns, a minute inspection. This 
lasted for an hour, and the Viceroy returned to the cabin to take 
his leave. He seemed loath to go, and remained in conversation 
for some time. General Grant expressed his deep sense of the 
honor which had been done him, his pleasure at having met the 
Viceroy. He urged the Viceroy to make a visit to the United 
States, and in a few earnest phrases repeated his hope that the 
statesmen of China would persevere in a policy which brought 
them nearer to our civilization — a policy that would give new 
greatness to China, enable them to control the fearful famines 
that devastated China, and secure the nation's independence. 
He repeated his belief that there could be no true independence 
unless China availed herself of the agencies which gave prestio-e 
to other nations and with which she had been so largely endowed 
by Providence. The Viceroy was friendly, almost affectionate. 
He hoped that General Grant would not forget him ; that he 
would like to meet the General now and then, and if China 
needed the General's counsel he would send it. He feared he 
could not visit foreign lands and regretted that he had not done 



712 AROUND THE WORLD. 

so in earlier years. He spoke of the friendship of the United 
States as dear to China, and again commended to the General 
and the American people the Chinese who had gone to America. 
It made his heart sore to hear of their ill usage, and he depended 
upon the justice and honor of our government for their protection. 
He again alluded to the Loo Choo question with Japan, and 
begged General Grant would speak to the Japanese Emperor, 
and, in securing justice, remove a cloud from Asia, which threw 
an ominous shadow over the East. The General bade the Vice- 
roy farewell, and said he would not forget what had been said, 
and that he would always think of the Viceroy with friendship and 
esteem. So we parted, Li-Hung Chang departing amid the roar 
of our cannon and the manning of the yards, while the ' Rich- 
mond ' slowly pushed her prow into the rippling waves and 
steamed along to Japan." 

From Tientsin the " Richmond " sailed for Chefoo, in order to 
enable the General and his party to visit the Great Wall of 
China, at the point where it comes to an end on the seashore. 

"As soon as the Viceroy had left us," says Mr. Young, in his 
letter to The New Yo?'k Herald, " the ' Richmond ' steamed 
slowly up the coast, the 'Ashuelot ' going direct to Chefoo. The 
contrast between the ' Richmond ' and the modest little 'Ashue- 
lot' was marked, and we had a sense of abundant space, of 
roominess, of opportunities for walking. But the 'Ashuelot' 
is a well-commanded ship, and we left her with pleasant memo- 
ries, and it was not without a regret that we saw General 
Grant's flag- hauled down. It was our good fortune to have 
a smooth sea, and when the morning came we found ourselves 
steaming slowly along, the shores of Northern China lining 
the horizon. Navigation in the China seas is always a prob- 
lem, and the coast past which we are sailing is badly surveyed. 
As a general thing, so carefully has science mapped and 
tracked the ocean that you have only to seek counsel from a 
vagrant, wandering star, and you will be able to tell to the 
minute when some hill or promontory will rise out of the waves. 
There was no such comfort on the China coast, and the ' Rich- 
mond' had to feel her way, to grope along the coast, and find the 



CHINA. 



713 






great wall as best we could. Fortunately the day was mild and 
clear, and we could steam close to shore. All morning we 
sailed watching the shore; the brown, receding hills; the leaping, 
jutting masses of rock ; the bits of greenery that seemed to re- 
joice in the sun, the fishing villages in houses of clay that run 
toward the shore. 

"About two o'clock in the afternoon Lieutenant Sperry, the 
navigator, had an experience that must have reminded him of 
Columbus discovering America. He had found the Great Walk 
By careful looking through the glasses, in time we saw it — a 
thick, brown, irregular line, that crumbles into the sea. The 
' Richmond ' steamed toward the beach, and so gracious was the 
weather that we were able to anchor within a mile of shore. All 
the boats were 
let down, and as 
many as could 

be spared from j| E||jj||W5jj|i 

the vessel went 
asho re — th e 
captain, the offi- 
cers, the sailors 
in their blue, tidy 
uniforms, and an 
especial sailor 
with a pot of 
white paint to 
inscribe the fact 
that the 'Rich- 
mond' had vis- 
ited the Great 
Wall. The 

Great Wall is the only monument I have seen which could 
be improved by modern sacrilege, and which could be painted 
over and plastered without compunctions of conscience. From 
what I read of this stupendous achievement it was built under 
the reign of a Chinese Emperor who flourished two centuries 
before Christ. This Emperor was disturbed by the constant 




THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA. 



714 AROUND THE WORLD. 

invasion of the Tartars, a hardy nomadic race, who came 
from the hills of Mongolia and plundered his people, who were 
indeed afterward to come, if only the Emperor could have 
opened the book of fate and known, and rule the country and 
found the dynasty which exists after a fashion still. So His 
Majesty resolved to build a wall which should forever protect his 
empire from the invader. The wall was built, and so well was it 
done that here we come, wanderers from the antipodes, twenty 
centuries after, and find it a substantial, imposing, but in the light 
of modern science, a useless wall. It is 1,250 miles in length, 
and it is only when you consider that distance and the incredible 
amount of labor it imposed that the magnitude of the work 
breaks upon you. We landed on a smooth, pebbly beach, 
studded with shells which would have rejoiced the eyes of chil- 
dren. We found a small village and saw the villagers grinding 
corn. The children, a few beggars and a blind person came to 
welcome us. The end of the wall which juts into the sea has 
been beaten by the waves into a ragged, shapeless condition. 
There was an easy ascent, however, up stone steps. At the top 
there was a small temple, evidently given to pious uses still, for 
there was a keeper who dickered about letting us in, and the walls 
seemed to be in order, clean and painted. The wall at the site 
of the temple was seventy-five or a hundred feet wide, but this 
was only a special width to accommodate the temple and present 
an imposing presence to the sea. As far as we could see the 
wall stretched over hill and valley, until it became a line. Its 
average width at the surface is from twenty to twenty-five feet. 
At the base it varies from forty to a hundred feet. It is made of 
stone and brick, and, considering that twenty centuries have been 
testing its workmanship, the work was well done. 

"As a mere wall, there is nothing imposing about the Great 
Wall of China. There are a hundred thousand walls, the world 
over, better built and more useful. What impressed us was the 
infinite patience which could have compassed so vast a labor. 
Wonderful are the Pyramids, and wonderful as a dream the 
ruins of Thebes. There you see mechanical results which you 
cannot follow or solve, engineering achievements we could not 



CHINA. /1 5 

even now repeat. The Great Wall is a marvel of patience. I 
had been reading the late Mr. Seward's calculation that the labor 
which had builded the Great Wall would have built the Pacific 
Railways. General Grant thought that Mr. Seward had under- 
rated its extent. ' I believe,' he said, ' that the labor expended on 
this wall could have built every railroad in the United States, 
every canal and highway, and most if not all of our cities.' The 
story is that millions were employed on the wall ; that the work 
lasted for ten years. I have ceased to wonder at a story like this. 
In the ancient days — the days which our good people are always 
lamenting and a return to which is the prayer of so many virtuous 
and pious souls — in the ancient days when an emperor had a wall 
or a pyramid to build he sent out to the fields and hills and 
gathered in the people and made them build on peril of their 
heads. It required an emperor to build the Great Wall. No 
people would ever have done such a thing. When you see the 
expression of a people's power it is in the achievements of the 
Roman, the Greek and the Englishman — in the achievements of 
Chinamen when they have been allowed their own way. The 
Great Wall is a monument of the patience of a people and the 
misapplied prerogative of a king. It never could have been of 
much use in the most primitive days, and now it is only a cu- 
riosity. We walked about on the top and studied its simple, 
massive workmanship, and looked upon the plains of Mongolia, 
over which the dreaded Tartar came. On one side of the wall 
was China, on the other Mongolia. We were at the furthest end 
of our journey, and every step now would be toward home. 
There was something like a farewell in the feeling with which we 
looked upon the cold land of mystery which swept on toward the 
north — cold and barren even under the warm sunshine. There 
was something like a welcome in the waves as we again greeted 
them, and knew that the sea upon which we are again venturing 
with the confidence that comes from long and friendly association 
would carry us home to America, and lighten even that journey 
with a glimpse of the land of the rising sun. 

"At five in the afternoon we were under way. The ocean was 
smooth and settled into a dead calm — a blessing not always 



yi6 AROUND THE WORLD. 

vouchsafed in the China seas. We ran along all night across 
the gulf, and early in the morning found ourselves at Chefoo. 
Judge Denny had gone ahead, Chefoo being within his consular 
jurisdiction, to see that all preparations were made for the re- 
ception of General Grant. Chefoo is a port, a summer watering- 
place for the European residents of Shanghai and Tientsin. It 
is situated on the northern side of the Shantung promontory, in 
latitude 3J 35' 56" north and longitude 124 22' 33" east. Che- 
foo does not present an interesting appearance from the sea. 
The hills rise and form a moderate background to the horizon, 
and on the hill was a group of commodious houses, showing that 
the European had put his foot here and was seeking the summer 
winds. Chefoo was opened for trade in 1861, as one of the re- 
sults of the French and English expedition against Pekin. The 
province of Shantung, of which Chefoo is the open port, was 
for a long time one of the out-of-the-way provinces of China. 
It is famous for its climate. The health-seeking foreigner has 
discovered the dryness of its atmosphere, the cool breezes which 
temper the pitiless summer rays — the firm, bracing winds, which 
bring strength with the winter. As Europeans come more and 
more to China, Chefoo grows in value, and in addition there is a 
trade, especially in the bean pancake, which gives it a mercantile 
vitality. The bean pancake is used as a fertilizer all over China, 
and is made by throwing peas into a trough, and crushing them 
under a heavy stone wheel. The oil is pressed out, and what 
remains goes into the fields, to give new life to the wheat 
and tea. There is a good trade in cotton, and the posi- 
tion which the town holds toward Japan, Corea and the Pacific 
settlements of the Russian Empire insure Chefoo a commercial 
prominence on the China seas. In winter when the Peiho river 
is frozen and communication with Pekin is interrupted, Chefoo 
assumes new importance as the seaport of Northern China. 

" The historical value of Chefoo arises from the fact that here 
was signed the Chefoo Convention between China and England, 
about which you hear occasionally in Parliament. This con- 
vention arose out of the murder of Mr. Margary, an English 
official, who was killed in the southern part of the Empire. The 



CHINA. 



717 




ORNAMENTAL ENTRANCE TO A CHINESE DWELLING. 

signing of this convention, the last political relation of an inter- 
national character, gave Chefoo a world-wide fame. Beyond 
this and the air there is nothing to interest you in Chefoo. The 
bay when we came was studded with junks, which were massed 
close to the shore. A fleet of gunboats were drawn up near the 
landing and were streaming with flags on account of the arrival. 
We landed about eleven, and the barge made a detour through 
the fleet. The vessels all fired salutes, and the point of debar- 
cation was tastefully decorated. The General and Mrs. Grant 
on landing were met by Consul Denny, the Vice Consul, Mr. C. 
L. Simpson, the Commissioner of Customs, and all the foreign 
residents. The General's party were escorted to a small pavilion, 
where presentations took place to the ladies and gentlemen 
.present. From here there was a procession about a quarter of 
a mile to the house of the Vice Consul. The foreign settlement 
and the Custom House buildings were decorated. Chinese troops 
from the Viceroy's army were drawn up on both sides of the road. 
A temporary arch was erected in which the American and Chinese 
flags were intertwined. Mounted Chinese officers rode ahead 



71 8 AROUND THE WORLD. 

and the General followed after in a chair carried by eight bearers. 
The people of the Chinese town had turned out, and amid the 
firing of cannon, the playing of Chinese music, and the steady, 
stolid, inquiring gaze of thousands, we were carried to the Con- 
sulate. Here there was luncheon. After luncheon General 
Grant strolled about the town, and in the evening attended a 
dinner at the house of the Customs Commissioner, Mr. Simpson. 
At the end of the dinner there was a ball, attended by most of 
the officers of the ' Richmond ' and 'Ashuelot ' and the principal 
residents. There were fireworks, lanterns and illuminations, and 
the little conservative town had quite a holiday. 

"At midnight General Grant and party, accompanied by Cap- 
tain Benham, returned on board the ' Richmond.' There was one 
incident on the return of a novel and picturesque character. Ac- 
cording to the regulations of the American navy no salutes can be 
fired by men-of-war after the sun goes down. But the ' Richmond ' 
was to sail as soon as the General embarked, and before the sun 
arose would be out at sea. So the Chinese o-unboats sent word 
that they would fire twenty-one guns as General Grant passed 
in his barg-e. The announcement caused some consternation in 
the well-ordered minds of our naval friends, and there was a 
grave discussion as to what regulations permitted under the 
circumstances. It would be rude to China not to return her 
salute. There were especial reasons for going out of the way 
to recognize any honor shown us by the Chinese. Our mission 
in those lands, so far as it was a mission, was one of peace and 
courtesy and good-will. Captain Benham, with the ready ability 
and common sense which as a naval officer he possesses in an 
eminent degree, decided that the courtesy should be honored 
and answered, gun for gun, and that, in so doing, he would carry 
out, in spirit at least, the regulations which should govern a 
naval commander. So it came to pass that Lieutenant Com- 
mander Clarke found himself performing a duty which I suppose' 
never before devolved upon a naval officer, holding a midnight 
watch, with the gun crew at quarters ready for the signal which 
was to justify him in startling the repose of nature on sea and 
shore with the hoarse and lurid menace of his euns. General 



CHINA. 7 X 9 

Grant's launch had hardly moved before the Chinese gunboats 
thundered forth, gun after gun, their terrifying compliment. 
These boats have no saluting batteries, and as the guns fired 
were of heavy calibre the effect of the firing was startling and 
sublime. The General's launch slowly steamed on, the smoke 
of the guns rolling along the surface of the waves and clouding 
the stars. When the last gun was fired there was a pause, and 
far off in the darkness our vessel, like a phantom ship, silent and 
brooding, suddenly took life and a bolt of fire came from her 
bows, followed swiftly by the sullen roar of the guns. A salute 
of cannon under any circumstances is an imposing sight. There 
is so much sincerity in the voice of a cannon that you listen to it 
as the voice of truth. The power it embodies is pitiless and 
awful, and felt at night, amid the solemn silence of the universe, 
it becomes indescribably grand. I have seen few things more 
impressive and thrilling than the midnight salute fired at Chefoo 
in honor of General Grant." 



CHAPTER XVII. 

JAPAN. 

Arrival of General Grant at Nagasaki — A Royal Reception — A Welcome from the Emperor — 
Prince Dati — Landing at Nagasaki — The Cholera — Dinner to General Grant by the Gov- 
ernor — General Grant Entertained by the Merchants — An Old- Fashioned Japanese Feast — 
Japanese Dishes and Customs — An Ancient Dance — General Grant Sails for Yokohama — 
Arrival at that Port — The Landing at Yokohama — A Magnificent Spectacle — Reception by 
the Authorities — The Journey to Tokio — Reception of General Grant at the Japanese Capi- 
tal — General Grant's Visit to the Emperor of Japan — The Palace — The Emperor and Em- 
press — A Cordial Reception — The Fourth of July in Japan — The Emperor Holds a Review 
of the Japanese Army in Honor of General Grant, and Entertains him at Breakfast — Gen- 
eral Grant's Home at Tokio — The Palace of Euriokwan — Grant the Guest of Japan — A 
Japanese Paradise — Glimpses of Japanese Life — Japanese Hospitality — Mrs. Grant and the 
Empress — The Emperor's Visit to General Grant — Grant's Advice to the Emperor — The 
Chinese Question — Excursions to Nikko and Kamakara — General Grant Prepares to Leave 
Japan — Last Days in the Island Empire — General Grant Dines With the Prime Minister — 
An Entertainment at Mr. Yoshida's — A Visit to Prince Dati — General Grant Takes Leave 
of the Emperor — Parting Courtesies to General Grant. 

ROM Chefoo, in China, the " Richmond " sailed direct for 
Nagasaki, in Japan. " There was no special incident in 
our run from China," says Mr. Young, in his letter to 
The New York Herald. "On the morning of the 21st of June 
we found ourselves threading our way through beautiful islands 
and rocks rich with green, that stood like sentinels in the sea, 
and hills on which were trees and gardens, and high, command- 
ing cliffs, covered with green, and smooth, tranquil waters, into 
the Bay of Nagasaki. Nagasaki ranks among the beautiful 
harbors in the world. 

" The ' Richmond ' steamed between the hills and came to an 
anchorage. It was the early morning, and over the water were 
shadows of cool, inviting green. Nagasaki, nestling on her hill- 
sides, looked cosy and beautiful, and, it being our first glimpse 
of a Japanese town, we studied it through our glasses, studied 
every feature — the scenery, the picturesque attributes of the city, 

the terraced hills that rose beyond, every rood under cultivation; 

(720) 




JAPAN. 721 

the quaint, curious houses ; the multitudes of flags which showed 
that the town knew of our coming and was preparing to do us 
honor. We noted, also, that the wharves were lined with a mul- 
titude, and that the available population were waiting to see the 
o-uest whom their nation honors and who is known in common 
speech as the American Mikado. Then the ' Richmond ' ran up 
the Japanese standard and fired twenty-one guns in honor of 
Japan. The forts answered the salute. Then the Japanese 
gunboats and the forts displayed the American ensign and fired 
a salute of twenty-one guns in honor of General Grant. Mr. W. 
P. Maneum, our Consul, and his wife came on board. In a short 
time the Japanese barge was seen coming, with Prince Dati and 
Mr. Yoshida and the Governor, all in the splendor of court uni- 
forms. These officials were received with due honors and es- 
corted to the cabin. Prince Dati said that he had been com- 
manded by the Emperor to meet General Grant on his landing, 
to welcome him in the name of His Majesty, and to attend upon 
him as the Emperor's personal representative so long as the 
General remained in Japan. The value of this compliment can 
be understood when you know that Prince Dati is one of the 
highest noblemen in Japan. He was one of the leading daimios, 
■one of the old feudal barons who, before the revolution, ruled 
Japan and had powers of life and death in his own dominions. 
The old daimios were not only barons but heads of clans, like the 
clans of Scotland, and in the feudal days he could march an army 
into the field. When the revolution came Dati accepted it, not 
sullenly and seeking retirement, like Satsuma and other princes, 
but as the best thing for the country. He gave his adhesion to 
the Emperor, and is now one of the great noblemen around the 
throne. The sending of a man of the rank of the Prince was the 
highest compliment that the Emperor could pay any guest. Mr. 
Yoshida you know as the present Japanese Minister to the 
United States, a discreet and accomplished man, and among the 
rising statesmen in the Empire. Having been accredited to 
America during the General's administration and knowing the 
General, the government called him home so that he might at- 
tend General Grant and look after the reception So, when 
46 



^2 2 AROUND THE WORLD. 

General Grant arrived, he had the pleasure of meeting not only 
a distinguished representative of the Emperor but an old personal 
friend. 

"At one o'clock on the 21st of June General Grant, accom- 
panied by Prince Dati, Mr. Yoshida, and the Governor, landed 
in Nagasaki. The Japanese man-of-war ' Kango,' commanded 
by Captain Zto, had been sent down to Nagasaki to welcome 
the General. The landing took place in the Japanese barge. 
From the time that General Grant came into the waters of Japan 
it was the intention of the government that he should be the 
nation's guest. As soon as the General stepped into the barge 
the Japanese vessels and the batteries on shore thundered out 
their welcome, the yards of the vessels were manned, and as the 
barge moved slowly along, the crews of the ships in the harbor 
cheered. It was over a mile from the ' Richmond ' to the shore. 
The landing-place had been arranged, not in the foreign section 
nor the Dutch concession, carrying out the intention of having 
the reception entirely Japanese. Lines of troops were formed, 
the steps were covered with red cloth, and every space and 
standing spot and coigne of vantage was covered with people. 
The General's boat touched the shore, and with Mrs. Grant on 
his arm and followed by the Colonel, the Japanese officials, and 
the members of his party, he slowly walked up the platform, bow- 
ing to the multitude who made this obeisance in his honor. 
There is something strange in the grave decorum of an Oriental 
crowd — strange to us who remember the ringing cheer and the 
electric hurrah of Saxon lands. The principal citizens of Naga- 
saki came forward and were presented, and, after a few minutes' 
pause, our party stepped into jinrickshaws and were taken to our 
quarters. 

"The jinrickshaw is the common vehicle of Japan. It is built 
on the principle of a child's perambulator or an invalid's chair, 
except that it is much lighter. Two men go ahead and pull, and 
one behind pushes. But this is only on occasions of ceremony. 
One man is quite able to manage a jinrickshaw. Those used by 
the General had been sent down from Tokio, from the palace. 
Our quarters in Nagasaki had been prepared in the Japanese 



JAPAN. 723 

town. A building used for a female normal school had been 
prepared. It was a half mile from the landing - , and the whole 
road had been decorated with flags, American and Japanese en- 
twined, with arches of green boughs and flowers. Both sides of 
the road were lined with people, who bowed low to the General 
as he passed. On reaching our residence the Japanese officials 
of the town were all presented. Then came the foreign consuls 
in a body, who were presented by the American Consul, Mr. 
Mangum. After this came the officers of the Japanese vessels, 
all in uniform. Then came a delegation representing the foreign 
residents of all nationalities in Nagasaki, who asked to present 
an address. This address was read by Mr. Farber, one of the 
oldest foreign residents in Japan. To this address General Grant 
replied briefly and appropriately. 

"On the evening of June 2 2d Mr. Bingham, the American 
Minister to Japan, came to Nagasaki in the mail steamer, and 
was met on landing by General Grant. Mr. Bingham brought 
sad news of the cholera, which was ravaging parts of Japan — an 
event which will limit our journeys. The Minister was fresh 
from home, and it was pleasant not only to meet an old friend, 
but one who could tell us of the tides and currents in home 
affairs. There were dinners and fetes during our stay in Naga- 
saki, some of which I may dwell on more in detail. The Gover- 
nor of the province gave a State dinner on the evening of the 
23d of June, served in French fashion; one that in its details 
would have done no discredit to the restaurants in Paris. To 
this dinner the Governor asked Captain Benham, of the 'Rich- 
mond;' Commander Johnson, of the 'Ashuelot,' and Lieutenant 
Commander Clarke. At the close His Excellency Utsumi Tada- 
katsu arose and said: 

" ' General Grant and Gentlemen : After a two years' tour through many- 
lands Nagasaki has been honored by a visit from the ex-President of the United 
States. Nagasaki is situated on the western shore of this Empire, and how 
fortunate it is that I, in my official capacity as Governor of Nagasaki, can greet 
and welcome you, sir, as you land for the first time on the soil of Japan. Many 
years ago, honored sir, I learned to appreciate your great services, and during 
a visit to the United States I was filled with an ardent desire to learn more of 
your illustrious deeds. You were then the President of the United States, and 



724 AROUND THE WORLD. 

little then did I anticipate that I should be the first Governor to receive you in 
Japan. Words cannot express my feelings. Nagasaki is so far from the seat 
of government that I fear you cannot have matters arranged to your satisfaction. 
It is my earnest wish that you and Mrs. Grant may safely travel through Japan 
and enjoy the visit.' 
1 

"This address was spoken in Japanese. At its close an 
interpreter, who stood behind His Excellency during its delivery, 
advanced and read the above translation. When the Governor 
finished General Grant arose and said : 

"'Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen: You have here to-night 
several Americans who have the talent of speech, and who could make an elo- 
quent response to the address in which my health is proposed. I have no such 
gift, and I never lamented its absence more than now, when there is so much 
that I want to say about your country, your people and your progress. I have 
not been an inattentive observer of that progress, and in America we have been 
favored with accounts of it from my distinguished friend, whom you all know 
as the friend of Japan, and whom it was my privilege to send as Minister — I 
mean Judge Bingham. The spirit which has actuated the mission of Judge 
Bingham — the spirit of sympathy, support and conciliation — not only expressed 
my own sentiments, but those of America. America has much to gain in the 
East — no nation has greater interests — but America has nothing to gain except 
what comes from the cheerful acquiescence of the Eastern people and insures 
them as much benefit as it does us. I should be ashamed of my country if its 
relations with other nations, and especially with these ancient and most inter- 
esting empires in the East, were based upon any other idea. We have rejoiced 
over your progress. We have watched you step by step. We have followed 
the unfolding of your old civilization and its absorbing the new. You have 
had our profound sympathy in that work, our sympathy in the troubles which 
came with it, and our friendship. I hope it may continue — that it may long 
continue. As I have said, America has great interests in the East. She is your 
next neighbor. She is more affected by the Eastern populations than any other 
Power. She can never be insensible to what is doing here. Whatever her 
influence may be, I am proud to think that it has always been exerted in behalf 
of justice and kindness. No nation needs from the outside Powers justice and 
kindness more than Japan, because the work that has made such marvellous 
progress in the past few years is a work in which we are deeply concerned, in 
the success of which we see a new era in civilization and which we should en- 
courage. I do not know, gentlemen, that I can say anything more than this in 
response to the kind words of the Governor. Judge Bingham can speak with 
much more eloquence and much more authority as our Minister. But I could 
not allow the occasion to pass without saying how deeply I sympathized with 
Japan in her efforts to advance, and how much those efforts were appreciated in 



JAPAN. 725 

America. In that spirit I ask you to unite with me in a sentiment : "The 
prosperity and the independence of Japan." ' 

" General Grant, a few minutes later, arose and said that he 
wished to propose another toast — a personal one — the drinking 
of which would be a great pleasure to him. This was the health 
of Judge Bingham, the American Minister to Japan. He had 
appointed the Judge Minister, and he was glad to know that the 
confidence expressed in that appointment had been confirmed by 
the admiration and respect of the Japanese people. When a 
Minister serves his own country as well as Judge Bingham has 
served America, and in doing so wins the esteem of the authori- 
ties and the people to whom he is accredited, he has achieved 
the highest success in diplomacy. 

" Mr. Yoshida, the Japanese Minister, arose and asked leave 
to add his high appreciation of Mr. Bingham, and the value 
which had been placed on his friendship to Japan by the govern- 
ment. He was proud to bear public tribute to Mr. Bingham's 
sincerity and friendliness, and to join in drinking his health. 

"Judge Bingham, in response to the sentiments of personal 
regard offered by Mr. Yoshida, acknowledged the courtesy to 
himself and said that he had come hither to join the official rep- 
resentatives of His Majesty the Emperor and also the people of 
Nagasaki in fitting testimonials of respect to General Grant, the 
friend of the United States of America and the friend of Japan. 
He had come to Japan as Minister bearing the commission issued 
by the distinguished guest of the evening. It had been his en- 
deavor to faithfully discharge his duties, and in such manner as 
would strengthen the friendship between the two countries and 
promote the commercial interests of both. He knew that in so 
acting he reflected the wishes of the illustrious man who is the 
guest of the Empire and the wishes also of the President and 
people of the United States. 'The government of my country,' 
said Mr. Bingham, ' has, by a recent treaty with Japan, mani- 
fested its desire that justice may be done by according to Japan 
her right to regulate her own commercial affairs, and to do jus- 
tice is the highest duty as it is the highest interest of civil gov- 
ernment.' " 



726 AROUND THE WORLD. 

On the 24th of June, the citizens of Nagasaki entertained 
General Grant at a dinner served in Japanese style. "The 
party," says Mr. Young, in his letter to The New York Herald, 
" was not more than twenty, including General Grant and party, 
our Japanese hosts, Consul Mangum and family and Consul 
Denny and family. The dinner was served on small tables, each 
guest having a table to himself. The merchants themselves 
waited on us, and with the merchants a swarm of attendants 
wearing the costumes of old Japan. 

" The bill of fare was almost a volume and embraced over 
fifty courses. The wine was served in unglazed porcelain wine 
cups, on white wooden stands. The appetite was pampered in 
the beginning with dried fish, edible seaweeds and isinglass, in 
something of the Scandinavian style, except that the attempt did 
not take the form of brandy and raw fish. The first serious 
dish was composed of crane, seaweed, moss, rice bread and 
potatoes, which we picked over in a curious way as though we 
were at an auction sale of remnants, anxious to rummage out a 
bargain. The soup when it first came — for it came many times 
— was an honest soup of fish, like a delicate fish chowder. Then 
came strange dishes, as ragout and as soup in bewildering con- 
fusion. The first was called namasu and embodied fish, clams, 
chestnuts, rock mushrooms and ginger. Then, in various com- 
binations, the following: — Duck, truffles, turnips, dried bonito, 
melons, pressed salt, aromatic shrubs, snipe, egg plant, jelly, 
boiled rice, snapper, shrimp, potatoes, mushroom, cabbage, lass- 
fish, orange flowers, powdered fish, flavored with plum juice and 
walnuts, raw carp sliced, mashed fish, baked fish, isinglass, fish 
boiled with pickled beans, wine and rice again. This all came 
in the first course, and as a finale to the course, there was a 
sweetmeat composed of white and red bean jelly cake, and 
boiled black mushroom. With this came powdered tea, which 
had a green, monitory look, and suggested your earliest experi- 
ences in medicine. 

"When the first pause came in the dinner tw r o of our mer- 
chant hosts advanced toward General Grant and read an ad- 
dress, to which General Grant replied in appropriate terms. 




(727) 



728 AROUND THE WORLD. 

"When the second course was finished — die ominous course 
that came to an end in powdered tea and sweetmeats composed 
of white and red bean jelly cake and boiled black mushroom — 
there was an interval. We arose from the table and sauntered 
about on the gravelled walk and looked down upon the bay and 
the enfolding hills, whose beauty became almost plaintive under 
the sympathetic shadows of the descending sun. 

"A trailing line of mist rises from the town and slowly floats 
along the hillside, veiling the beauty upon which you have been 
dwelling all the afternoon. The green becomes gray, and on 
the tops there are purple shadows, and the shining waters of the 
bay become opaque. The ships swing at anchor, and you can 
see above the trim masts and prim-set spars of the 'Richmond' 
the colors of America. The noble ship has sought a shelter 
near the further shore, and as you look a light ascends the rig- 
ging and gives token that those in command are setting the 
watches for the night. Nearer us, distinguishable from her 
white wheelhouse, rides the 'Ashuelot,' while ships of other lands 
dot the bay. As you look a ball of fire shoots into the air and 
hangs pendant for a moment, and explodes into a mass of shoot- 
ing, corruscating stars, and you know that our friends in the 
town are rejoicing over the presence of General Grant. From 
the other hills a flame breaks out and struggles a few moments, 
and becomes a steady asserting flame, and you know that this is 
a bonfire, and that the people have builded it to show their joy. 
Other bonfires creep out of the blackness, for while you have 
been looking night has come, and reigns over hill and valley and 
sea, and green has become black. Lines of light streak the 
town and you see various decorations in lanterns, forming quaint 
shapes. One shapes itself into the flag of America, another into 
the flag of Japan, another into a triangle, another into a Japanese 
word — the word in red lanterns, surrounded by a border of 
white lanterns — and Mr. Yoshida translates the word to mean 
a sentiment in honor of General Grant. These lights in curious 
forms shoot up in all parts of the town and you know that 
Nagasaki is illuminated, and that while here in this venerable 
temple the merchants have assembled to give us entertainment 



JAPAN. 729 

the inhabitants are answering their hospitality with blazing- tokens 
of approval. As you look below on the streets around the 
temple you see the crowd bearing lanterns, chattering, wondering, 
looking on, taking what comfort they can out of the festival in 
honor of the stranger within their gates. 

" But while we could well spend our evening strolling over 
this gravelled walk and leaning over the quaint brick wall and 
studying the varying and ever changing scene that sweeps be- 
neath us, we must not forget our entertainment. The servants 
have brought in the candles. Before each table is a pedestal on 
which a candle burns, and the old temple lights up with a new 
splendor. To add to this splendor the wall has been draped with 
heavy silks, embroidered with gold and silver, with quaint and 
curious legends of the history of Japan. These draperies lend a 
new richness to the room, and you admire the artistic taste which 
suggested them. The merchants enter ao-ain bearing meats. 
Advancing to the centre of the room, and to the General, they 
kneel and press their foreheads to the floor. With this demure 
courtesy the course begins. Other attendants enter, and place 
on each table the lacquer bowls and dishes. Instead of covering 
the tables with a variety of food and tempting you with auxiliary 
dishes of watermelon seeds and almond kernels, as in China, the 
Japanese give you a small variety at a time. I am afraid, how- 
ever, we have spoiled our dinner. Our amiable friend, the Japan- 
ese Minister, warned us in the beginning not to be in a hurry, to 
restrain our curiosity, not to hurry our investigations into the 
science of a Japanese table, but to pick and nibble and wait — that 
there were good things coming, which we should not be beyond 
the condition of enjoying. What a comfort, for instance, a roll' 
of bread would be and a glass of dry champagne! But there is 
no bread and no wine, and our only drink is the hot preparation 
from rice with its sherry flavor, which is poured out of a teapot 
into shallow lacquer saucers, and which you sip, not without rel- 
ish, although it has no place in any beverage known to your 
experience. We are dining, however, in strict Japanese fashion, 
just as the old daimios did, and our hosts are too good artists to 
spoil a feast with champagne. Then it has been going on for 



730 AROUND THE WORLD. 

hours, and when you have reached the fourth hour of a dinner, 
even a temperance dinner, with nothing more serious than a hot 
insipid sherry-like rice drink, you have passed beyond the critical 
and curious into the resigned condition. If we had only been gov- 
erned by the Minister we might have enjoyed this soup, which 
comes first in the course, and as you lift the lacquered top you 
know to be hot and fragrant. It is a soup composed of carp and 
mushroom and aromatic shrub. Another dish is a prepared fish 
that looks like a confection of cocoanut, but which you see to be 
fish as you prod it with your chopsticks. This is composed of the 
red snapper fish, and is served in red and white alternate 
squares. It looks well, but you pass it by as well as another dish 
that is more poetic at least, for it is a preparation of the skylark, 
wheat flour cake and gourd. We are not offended by the next 
soup, which comes hot and smoking, a soup of buckwheat and 
egg-plant. You push your soup to the end of the table and nip 
off the end of a fresh cigar, and look out upon the town over 
which the dominant universe has thrown the star-sprinkled man- 
tle of night, and follow the lines of light that mark the welcome 
we are enjoying, and trace the ascending rockets as they shoot 
up from the hillside to break into masses of dazzling fire and illu- 
minate the heavens for a moment in a rhapsody of blue and 
scarlet and green and silver and gold. 

" If you have faith you will enter bravely into the dish that your 
silk-draped attendant now places before you, and as he does, bows 
to the level of the table and slides away. This is called oh-hira, 
and was composed, I am sure, by some ambitious daimio. who had 
given thought to the science of the table and possessed an origi- 
nal genius. The base of this dish is panyu. Panyu is a sea fish. 
The panyu in itself would be a dish, but in addition we have a 
fungus, the roots of the lily and the stems of the pumpkin. The 
fungus is delicate, and reminds you of mushroom, but the pump- 
kin, after you had fished it out and saw that it was a pumpkin, 
seemed forlorn and uncomfortable, conscious no doubt of a bet- 
ter destiny in its New England home than flavoring a mess of 
pottage. What one objects to in these dishes is the objection 
you have to frogs and snails. They lack dignity. And when we 



JAPAN. 731 

come to real American food, like the pumpkin and buckwheat, we 
expect to see it specially honored, and not thrown into a pot and 
boiled in mixed company. The lily roots seemed out of place. 
I could find no taste in them, and would have been content to 
have known them as turnips. But your romantic notions about 
the lily — the lines you have written in albums, the poetry and 
water colors — are dispelled by its actual presence in a boiled 
state, suffused with arrowroot and horseradish. 

"While our hosts are passing around the strange dishes a signal 
is made and the musicians enter. They are maidens with fair, 
pale faces, and small, dark, serious eyes. You are pleased to see 
that their teeth have not been blackened, as was the custom in 
past days, and is even now almost a prevalent custom among 
the lower classes. We are told that the maidens who have 
come to grace our feast are not of the common singing class, 
but the daughters of the merchants and leading citizens of 
Nagasaki. The first group is composed of three. They enter, 
sit down on the floor and bow their heads in salutation. One 
of the instruments is shaped like a guitar, another is something 
between a banjo and a drum. They wear the costume of the 
country, the costume that was known before the new days came 
upon Japan. They have blue silk gowns, white collars and 
heavily brocaded pearl-colored sashes. The principal instrument 
was long and narrow, shaped like a coffin lid and sounding like 
a harpsichord. After they had played an overture another 
group entered, fourteen maidens similarly dressed, each carrying 
the small banjo-like instrument and ranging themselves on a 
bench against the wall, the tapestry and silks suspended over 
them. Then the genius of the artist was apparent, and the rich 
depending tapestry, blended with the blue and white and pearl, 
and animated with the faces of the maidens, their music and 
their songs, made a picture of Japanese life which an artist might 
regard with envy. You see then the delicate features of Japanese^ 
decoration which have bewitched our artist friends, and which 
the most adroit fingers in vain try to copy. When the musicians 
enter the song begins. It is an original composition. The 
theme is the glory of America and honor to General Grant. 



732 AROUND THE WORLD. 

They sing of the joy that his coming has given to Japan, of the 
interest and the pride they take in his fame ; of their friendship 
for their friends across the great sea. This is all sung in Japanese, 
and we follow the lines through the mediation of a Japanese 
friend who learned his English in America. This anthem was 
chanted in a low, almost monotonous key, one singer leading in 
a kind of solo and the remainder coming in with a chorus. The 
song ended, twelve dancing maidens enter. They wore a crim- 
son-like overgarment fashioned like pantaloons — a foot or so too 
long — so that when they walked it was with a dainty pace, lest 
they might trip and fall. The director of this group was con- 
stantly on his hands and knees, creeping around among the 
dancers keeping their drapery in order, not allowing it to bundle 
up and vex the play. These maidens carried bouquets of pink 
blossoms, artificially made, examples of the flora of Japan. They 
stepped through the dance at as slow a measure as in a minuet 
of Louis XIV. The movement of the dance was simple, the 
music a humming thrumming, as though the performers were 
tuning their instruments. After passing through a few measures 
the dancers slowly filed out and were followed by another group, 
who came wearing masks — the mask in the form of a large doll's 
face — and bearing children's rattles and fans. The peculiarity 
of this dance was that time was kept by the movement of the fan 
— a graceful, expressive movement which only the Eastern people 
have learned to bestow on the fan. With them the fan becomes 
almost an organ of speech, and the eye is employed in its man- 
agement at the expense of the admiration we are apt at home to 
bestow on other features of the amusement. The masks indi- 
cated that this was a humorous dance, and when it was over four 
special performers, who had unusual skill, came in with flowers 
and danced a pantomime. Then came four others, with costumes 
different — blue robes, trimmed with gold, who carried long, thin 
wands, entwined in gold and red, from which dangled festoons 
of pink blossoms. 

"All this time the music hummed and thrummed. To vary 
the show we had even a more grotesque amusement. First 
came eight children, who could scarcely do more than toddle. 



japan. 733 

They were dressed in white, embroidered in green and red, 
wearing purple caps formed like the Phrygian liberty cap and 
dangling on the shoulders. They came into the temple enclosure 
and danced on the gravelled walk, while two, wearing an imita- 
tion of a dragon's skin, went through a dance and various con- 
tortions, supposed to be a dragon at play. This reminded us 
of the pantomime elephant, where one performer plays the front 
and another the hind legs. In the case of our Japanese dragon 
the legs were obvious, and the performers seemed indisposed 
even to respect the illusion. It was explained that it was an 
ancient village dance, one of the oldest in Japan, and that on 
festive occasions, when the harvests are ripe or when some 
legend or feat of heroism is to be commemorated, they assemble 
and dance it. It was a trifling, innocent dance, and you felt as 
you looked at it, and, indeed, at all the features of our most 
unique entertainment, that there was a good deal of nursery 
imagination in Japanese fetes and games. A more striking 
feature was the decorations which came with the second course 
of our feast. First came servants, bearing two trees, one of the 
pine, the other of the plum. The plum tree was in full blossom. 
One of these was set on a small table in front of Mrs. Grant, the 
other in front of the General. Another decoration was a cherry 
tree, surmounting a large basin, in which were living carp fish. 
The carp has an important position in the legends of Japan. It 
is the emblem of ambition and resolution. This quality was 
shown in another decoration, representing a waterfall, with carp 
climbing against the stream. You will note, however, as our 
dinner goes on it becomes bizarre and odd, and runs away with 
all well-ordered notions of what even a daimio's dinner should 
be. The soups disappear. You see we have only had seven 
distinct soups served at intervals, and so cunningly prepared that 
you are convinced that in the ancient days of Japanese splendor 
soup had a dignity which it has lost. 

" The music is in full flow, and the lights of the town grow 
brighter with the shades of darkening night, and some of the 
company have long since taken refuge from the dinner in cigars, 
and over the low brick wall and in the recesses of the temple 



734 AROUND THE WORLD. 

grounds crowds begin to cluster and form, and below, at the foot 
of the steps, the crowd grows larger and larger, and you hear the 
buzz of the throng and the clinking ot the lanterns of the chair- 
bearers, for the whole town was in festive mood, and high up in 
our open temple on our hillside we have become a show for the 
town. Well, that is only a small return for the measureless hos- 
pitality we have enjoyed, and if we can gratify an innocent 
curiosity, let us think of so much pleasure given in our way 
through the world. It is such a relief to know that we have 
passed beyond any comprehension of our dinner, which we look 
at as so many conceptions and preparations — curious contrivances, 
which we study out as though they were riddles or problems 
adjusted for our entertainment. The dining quality vanished 
with that eccentric soup of lassfish and orange flowers. With the 
General it went much earlier. It must be said that for the Gen- 
eral the table has few charms, and long before we began upon 
the skylarks and buckwheat degraded by the egg-plant, he for 
whom this feast is oriven had taken refuse in a ci^ar, and con- 
tented himself with looking upon the beauty of the town and bay 
and cliff, allowing the dinner to flow along. You will observe, 
if you have followed the narrative of our feast, that meat plays 
a small and fish a large part in a daimio's dinner — fish and the 
products of the forest and field. The red snapper has the place 
of honor, and although we have had the snapper in five different 
shapes — as a soup, as a ragout, flavored with cabbage, broiled 
with pickled beans, and hashed, here he comes again, baked, 
decorated with ribbons, with every scale in place, folded in a 
bamboo basket. Certainly we cannot be expected to eat any 
more of the snapper, and I fancy that in the ancient feasts the 
daimio intended that after his guests had partaken freely they 
could take a part of the luxury home and have a subsequent en- 
tertainment. Perhaps there were poor folk in those days who 
had place at the tables of the great, and were glad enough to 
have a fish or a dish of sweetmeats to carry home. This theory 
was confirmed by the fact that when we reached our quarters 
that night we found that the snapper in a basket with various 
other dishes had been brought after us and placed in our 
chambers. 




BRONZE MODEL OF AN ANCIENT JAPANESE TEMPLE. 



(735* 



736 AROUND THE WORLD. 

" Here are fried snappers — snappers again, this time fried with 
shrimps — eggs, egg-plants, and mashed turnips. Then we have 
dishes, five in number, under the generic name of ' shimadai.' I 
suppose shimadai means the crowning glory, the consummation 
of the feast. In these dishes the genius of the artist takes his 
most daring flight The first achievement is a composition of 
mashed fish, panyu, bolone, jelly, and chestnut, decorated with 
scenery of Futamiga-ura. A moment since I called your atten- 
tion to the moral lessons conveyed at a certain stage of our 
dinner, where the folly of ambition was taught by a carp trying 
to fly up a stream. Here the sentiment of art is gratified. Your 
dinner becomes a panorama, and when you have gazed upon the 
scenery of Futamiga-ura until you are satisfied, the picture 
changes. Here we have a picture and. a legend. This picture 
is of the old couple of Takasago — a Japanese domestic legend 
that enters into all plays and feasts. The old couple of Taka- 
sago always bring contentment, peace, and a happy old age. 
They are household fairies, and are invoked just as we invoke 
Santa Claus in holiday times. Somehow the Japanese have im- 
proved upon our legend, for, instead of giving us a frosty, red- 
faced Santa Claus, riding along the snow-banked house-tops, 
showering his treasures upon the just and the unjust — a foolish, 
incoherent old fellow, about whose antecedents we are misin- 
formed, of whose manner of living we have no information, and 
who would, if he ever came into the hands of the police, find it 
difficult to explain the possession of so many articles, we have a 
poem that teaches the peace that comes with virtue, the sacred- 
ness of marriage, and the beauty of that life which so soon comes 
to an end. The old couple are represented under trees of palm, 
bamboo, and plum. Snow has fallen upon the trees. Around 
this legend there is a dish composed of shrimp, fish, potato, water- 
potatoes, eggs, and seaweed. The next dish of the shimadai 
family is decorated with pine trees and cranes, and composed of 
varieties of fish. There is another decorated with plum trees, 
bamboo and tortoise, also offish, and another, more curious than 
all, decorated with peony flowers and what is called the shakio, 
but what looked like a doll with long red hair. This final species 



japan. 737 

of the shimadai family was composed of mashed fish — a Japanese 
fish named kisu — shrimps, potatoes, rabbits, gold fish, and ginger. 
After the shimadai we had a series called sashimi. This was 
composed of four dishes, and would have been the crowning 
glory of the feast if we had not failed in courage. But one of 
the features of the sashimi was that live fish should be brought* 
in, sliced while alive, and served. We were not brave enough 
for that, and so we contented ourselves with looking at the fish 
leap about in their decorated basins and seeing them carried 
awav, no doubt to be sliced for less sentimental feeders behind 
the screens. As a final course we had pears prepared with 
horse-radish, a cake of wheat flour and powdered rice. The 
dinner came to an end after a struggle of six or seven hours, and 
as we drove home through the illuminated town, brilliant with 
lanterns and fireworks and arches and bonfires, it was felt that 
we had been honored by an entertainment such as we may 
never again expect to see." 

From Nagasaki the "Richmond" sailed to Yokohama, the prin- 
cipal port of Japan, which was reached on the 3d of July. Here 
a magnificent welcome awaited the General. " The landings at 
Yokohama," says Mr. Young, in his letter to The New York 
Herald, " as a pageant alone, was a glorious sight. Yokohama 
has a beautiful harbor, and the lines of the city can be traced 
along the green background. The day was clear and warm — a 
home July day tempered with the breezes of the sea. There 
were men-of-war of various nations in the harbor, and as the 
exact hour of the General's coming was known, everybody was 
on the lookout. At ten o'clock our Japanese convoy passed 
ahead and entered the harbor. At half-past ten the ' Richmond' 
steamed slowly in, followed by the 'Ashuelot.' As soon as the 
' Monongahela ' made out our flag, and especially the flag at the 
fore, which denoted the General's presence, her guns rolled out 
a salute. For a half-hour the bay rang with the roar of cannon 
and was clouded with smoke. The 'Richmond' fired a salute to 
the flag of Japan. The Japanese vessels, the French, the Russian, 
all fired gun after gun. Then came the official visits. Admiral 
Patterson and staff, the admirals and commanding officers of 
47 



738 AROUND THE WORLD. 

other fleets, Consul-General Van Buren, officers of the Japanese 
navy, blazing in uniform ; the officers of the ' Richmond ' were 
all in full uniform, and for an hour the deck of the flagship was 
a blaze of color and decoration. General Grant received the 
various dignitaries on the deck as they arrived. 

" It was arranged that General Grant should land at noon. The 
foreign residents were anxious that the landing should be on the 
foreign concession, but the Japanese preferred that it should be 
in their own part of the city. At noon the imperial barge and 
the steam launch came alongside the ' Richmond.' General Grant, 
accompanied by Mrs. Grant, his son, Prince Dati, Judge Bingham, 
Mr. Yoshida, Captain Benham, Commander Johnson, Lieutenant 
Stevens, Dr. Bransford, Lieutenant May and Paymaster Thom- 
son — the naval officers specially detailed to accompany him — 
passed over the side and went on the barge. As soon as Gen- 
eral Grant entered the barge the ' Richmond ' manned yards and 
fired a salute. In an instant, as if by magic, the Japanese, the 
French, the Russians, manned yards and fired salutes. The 
German ship hoisted the imperial standard, and the English 
vessel dressed ship. Amid the roar of cannon and the waving 
of flags the General's boat slowly moved to the shore. As he 
passed each of the saluting ships the General took off his hat and 
bowed, while the guards presented arms and the bands played 
the American national air. The scene was wonderfully grand — 
the roar of the cannon, the clouds of smoke wandering off over 
the waters — the stately, noble vessels streaming with flags — the 
yards manned with seamen — the guards on deck — the officers in 
full uniform gathered on the quarter-deck to salute the General 
as he passed — the music and the cheers which came from the 
Japanese and the merchant ships — the crowds that clustered on 
the wharves — the city, and over all a clear, mild July day, with 
Grateful breezes ruffling the sea. 

" It was rather a long way to the Admiralty pier, but at half- 
past twelve the General's boat came to the wharf. There in 
waiting were the princes, ministers and the high officials of the 
Japanese government. As the General landed the Japanese 
band played the American airs, and Iwakura, one of the prime 



japan. 739 

ministers and perhaps the foremost statesman in Japan, advanced 
and shook his hands. The General had known Iwakura in 
America, and the greeting was that of old friends. There were 
also Ito, Inomoto and Tereshima, also members of the Cabinet ; 
two princes of the imperial family and a retinue of officials. Mr. 
Yoshida presented the General and party to the Japanese and a 
few moments were spent in conversation. Day fireworks were 
set off at the moment of the landing— representations of the 
American and Japanese flags entwined. That, however, is the 
legend that greets you at every doorsill — the two flags entwined. 
The General and party, accompanied by the ministers and officials 
and the naval officers, drove to the railway station. There was 
a special train in waiting, and at a quarter past one the party 
started for Tokio. 

" The ride to Tokio, the capital of Japan, was a little less than 
an hour, over a smooth road, and through a pleasant, well-culti- 
vated and apparently prosperous country. Our train being 
special made no stoppage, but I observed as we passed the 
stations that they were clean and neat, and that the people 
had assembled to wave flags and bow as we whirled past. 
About two o'clock our train entered the station. A large 
crowd was in waiting, mainly the merchants and principal 
citizens of Tokio. As the General descended from the train 
a committee of the citizens advanced and asked to read an 
address, which was accordingly read in both Japanese and 
English, and to which General Grant made an admirable reply. 

"At the close of the address the General was led to his car- 
riage — the private carriage of the Emperor. As he stepped out 
several Japanese officials met him ; among others was his Excel- 
lency J. Pope Hennessy, the British Governor of Hong Kong, 
whose guest the General had been. The General shook hands 
warmly with the Governor, who said he came as a British sub- 
ject to be among those who welcomed General Grant to 
Japan. The General's carriage drove slowly in, surrounded 
by cavalry, through lines of infantry presenting arms, through 
a dense mass of people, under an arch of flowers and ever- 
greens, until amid the flourish of trumpets and the beating 



74-0 AROUND THE WORLD. 

of drums, he descended at the house that had been prepared for 
his reception — the Emperor's summer palace of Eurio Kwan. 

"The Japanese, with a refinement of courtesy quite French in 
its way, were solicitous that General Grant should not have any 
special honors in Japan until he had seen the Emperor. It was 
felt that as the General was the guest of the nation he should be 
welcomed to the nation by its chief. They were also anxious 
that the reception should take place on the Fourth of July. 
Their imaginations had been impressed by the poetry of the 
idea of a reception to one who had been the head of the 
American nation on the anniversary of American independence. 
The breaking out of the cholera in the towns on the inland sea 
would have been reason enough for hurrying through. But we 
discovered, as soon as we had left Nagasaki, that our visit to 
Tokio was timed for the 3d of July, and for the reception at the 
palace on the Fourth. 

" The hour for our reception was two in the afternoon. The 
day was very warm, although in our palace on the sea we 
have whatever breeze may be wandering over the Pacific ocean. 
General Grant invited some of his naval friends to accompany 
him, and in answer to this invitation we had Rear-Admiral Pat- 
terson, attended by Pay Inspector Thornton and Lieutenant 
Davenport, of his staff; Captain A. E. K. Benham, commanding- 
the 'Richmond;' Captain Fitzhugh, commanding the ' Mononga- 
hela;' Commander Johnson, commanding the 'Ashuelot;' Lieu- 
tenant Springer and Lieutenant Kellogg. At half-past one Mr. 
Bingham, our Minister, arrived, and our party immediately drove 
to the palace. The home of the Emperor is a long distance 
from the home of the General. The old palace was destroyed 
by fire, and Japan has had so many things to do that she has not 
built a new one. The road to the palace was through the sec- 
tion of Tokio where the old daimios lived when they ruled Japan 
as feudal lords and made their occasional visits to the capital. 
There seems to have been a o-ood deal of Highland freedom in 
the manners of the old princes. Their town houses were really 
fortifications. A space was enclosed with walls, and against these 
walls chambers were built — rude chambers, like winter quarters 



JAPAN. 741 

for an army. In these winter quarters lived the retainers, the 
swordsmen and soldiers. In the centre of the enclosure was the 
home of the lord himself, who lived in the midst of his people, 
like a general in camp, anxious to fight somebody, and disap- 
pointed if he returned to his home without a fight. A lord with 
hot-tempered followers, who had come from the restraints and 
amenities of home to have a good time at the capital and give 
the boys a chance to distinguish themselves and see the world, 
would not be a welcome neighbor. And as there were a great 
many such lords, and each had his army and his town fortress, 
the daimio quarter became an important part of the capital. 
Some of the houses were more imposing than the palace — nota- 
bly the house of the Prince of Satsuma. There was an impos- 
ing gate, elaborately buttressed and strengthened, that looked 
quite Gothic in its rude splendor. These daimio houses have 
been taken by the government for schools, for public offices, for 
various useful purposes. The daimios no longer come with 
armies and build camps and terrorize over their neighbors and 
rivals. 

"We drove through the daimios' quarter and through the 
gates of the city. The first impression of Tokio is that it is a 
city of walls and canals. The walls are crude and solid, pro- 
tected by moats. In the days of pikemen and sword-bearers 
there could not have been a more effective defence. Even now 
it would require an effort for even a German army to enter 
through these walls. They go back many generations. I do 
not know how many. In these lands nothing is worth recording 
that is not a thousand years old, and my impression is that the 
walls of Tokio have grown up with the growth of the city, the 
necessities of defence, and the knowledge of the people in 
attack and defence. We passed under the walls of an enclosure 
which was called the castle. Here we are told the Emperor will 
build his new palace. We crossed another bridge — I think there 
were a dozen altoo-ether in the course of the drive — and came to 
a modest arched gateway which did not look nearly as imposing 
as the entrance to the palace formerly occupied by the great 
Prince Satsuma. Soldiers were drawn up and the band played 



742 AROUND THE WORLD. 

1 Hail, Columbia.' Our carriages drove on past one or two modest 
buildings and drew up in front of another modest building, on 
the steps of which the Minister Iwakura was standing. The Gen- 
eral and party descended and were cordially welcomed and es- 
corted up a narrow stairway into an anteroom. When you have 
seen most of the available palaces in the world, from the glori- 
ous home of Aurungzebe to the depressing mighty cloister of 
the Escurial, you are sure to have preconceived notions of what 
a palace should be and to expect something unique and grand in 
the home of the long-hidden and sacred Majesty of Japan. The 
home of the Emperor was as simple as that of a country gen- 
tleman at home. We have many country gentlemen with felicit- 
ous investments in petroleum and silver who would disdain the 
home of a prince who claims direct descent from heaven and 
whose line extends far beyond the Christian era. What marked 
the house was its simplicity and taste ; qualities for which my 
palace education had not prepared me. You look for splendor- 
for the grand — at least the grandiose — for some royal whim like 
the holy palace near the Escurial, which cost millions, or like 
Versailles, whose cost is among the eternal mysteries. Here we 
are in a suite of plain rooms, the ceilings of wood, the walls 
decorated with natural scenery — the furniture sufficient but not 
crowded — and exquisite in style and finish. There is no pre- 
tence of architectural emotion. The rooms are large, airy, with a 
sense of summer about them which grows stronger as you look 
out of the window and down the avenues of trees. We are told 
that the grounds are spacious and fine, even for Japan, and that 
His Majesty, who rarely goes outside of his palace grounds, 
takes what recreation he needs within the walls. 

" The palace is a low building, one or at most two stories in 
height. They do not build high walls in Japan, and especially in 
Tokio, where earthquakes are ordinary incidents, and the first 
question to consider in building up is how far you can fall. We 
enter a room where all the Ministers are assembled. The Japan- 
ese Cabinet is a famous body, and tested by laws of physiognomy 
would compare with that of any Cabinet I have seen. The Prime 
Minister is a striking character. He is small, slender, with an 



japan. 743 

almost girl-like figure, delicate, clean cut, winning features, a face 
that might be that of a boy of twenty or a man of fifty. The 
Prime Minister reminded me of Alexander H. Stephens in his 
frail, slender frame, but it bloomed with health, and lacked the 
sad, pathetic lines which tell of the years of suffering which 
Stephens has endured. The other Ministers looked like strong, 
able men. Iwakura has a striking face, with lines showing firm- 
ness and decision, and you saw the scar which marked the 
attempt of the assassin to cut him down and slay him, as Okubo, 
the greatest of Japanese statesmen, was slain not many months 
ago. That assassination made as deep an impression in Japan 
as the killing of Lincoln did in America. We saw the spot where 
the murder was done on our way to the palace, and my Japanese 
friend who pointed it out spoke in low tones of sorrow and affec- 
tion, and said the crime there committed had been an irreparable 
loss to Japan. 

"A lord in waiting, heavily braided, with a uniform that Louis 
XIV. would not have disliked in Versailles, comes softly in and 
makes a signal, leading the way. The General, and Mrs. Grant 
escorted by Mr. Bingham, and our retinue followed. The Gen- 
eral and the Minister were in evening dress. The naval officers 
were in full uniform, Colonel Grant wearing the uniform of 
lieutenant-colonel. We walked along a short passage and 
entered another room, at the farther end of which were stand- 
ing the Emperor and the Empress. Two ladies in waiting were 
near them, in a sitting, what appeared to be a crouching attitude. 
Two other princesses were standing. These were the only oc- 
cupants of the room. Our party slowly advanced, the Japanese 
making a profound obeisance, bending the head almost to a right 
angle with the body. The royal princes formed in line near the 
Emperor, along with the princesses. The Emperor stood quite 
motionless, apparently unobservant or unconscious of the homage 
that was paid him. He is a young man with a slender figure, 
taller than the average Japanese and of about the middle height, 
according to our ideas. He has a striking face, with a mouth 
and lips that remind you something of the traditional mouth of 
the Hapsburg family. The forehead is full and narrow, the hair 



744 



AROUND THE WORLD. 



and the light moustache and beard intensely black. The color 
of the hair darkens what otherwise might pass for a swarthy 
countenance at home. The face expressed no feeling whatever, 
and but for the dark, glowing eye, which was bent full upon the 
General, you might have taken the imperial group for statues. 
The Empress, at his side, wore the Japanese costume, rich and 
plain. Her face was very white, and her form slender and almost 

childlike. Her hair was combed 
plainly and braided with a gold 
arrow. The Emperor and Em- 
press have agreeable faces, the 
Emperor especially showing firm- 
ness and kindness. The solemn 
etiquette that pervaded the au- 
dience-chamber was peculiar, and 
might appear strange to those fa- 
miliar with the stately but cordial 
manners of a European Court. 
But one must remember that the 
Emperor holds so high and so 
sacred a place in the traditions, 
the religion and the political sys- 
tem of Japan that even the cere- 
mony of to-day is so far in ad- 
vance of anything of the kind 
ever known in Japan that it might 
be called a revolution. The Em- 
peror, for instance, as our group 
was formed, advanced and shook 
hands with the General. 
"That seems a trivial thing to write about, but such an inci- 
dent was never known in the history of Japanese majesty. 
Many of these details may appear small, but we are in the 
presence of an old and romantic civilization, slowly giving way 
to the fierce, feverish pressure of European ideas, and you can 
only note the change in those incidents which would be unnoticed 
in other lands. The incident of the Emperor of Japan advancing 




JAPANESE BRONZE VASE. 



japan. 745 

toward General Grant and shaking hands becomes a historic 
event of consequence, and as such I note it. The manner of the 
Emperor was constrained, almost awkward, the manner of a man 
doing a thing for the first time, and trying to do it as well as 
possible. After he had shaken hands with the General, he re- 
turned to his place, and stood with his hand resting on his sword, 
looking on at the brilliant, embroidered, gilded company as though 
unconscious of their presence. Mr. Bingham advanced and 
bowed, and received just the faintest nod in recognition. The 
other members of the party were each presented by the Minis- 
ter, and each one standing about a dozen feet from the Emperor 
stood and bowed. Then the General and Mrs. Grant were pre- 
sented to the princesses, each party bowing to the other in 
silence. The Emperor then made a signal to one of the noble- 
men, who advanced. The Emperor spoke to him for a few 
moments in a low tone, the nobleman standing with bowed head. 
When the Emperor had finished, the nobleman advanced to the 
General and said he was commanded by His Majesty to read 
him the following address: 



£> 



'' ' Your name has been known to us for a long time, and we are highly gratified 
to see you. While holding the high office of President of the United States you 
extended toward our countrymen especial kindness and courtesy. When our 
Ambassador, Iwakura, visited the United States he received the greatest kind- 
ness from you. The kindness thus shown by you has always been remembered 
by us. In your travels around the world you have reached this country, and our 
people of all classes feel gratified and happy to receive you. We trust that 
during your sojourn in our country you may find much to enjoy. It gives me 
sincere pleasure to receive you, and we are especially gratified that we have been 
able to do so on the anniversary of American independence. We congratulate 
you, also, on the occasion.' 

"This address was read in English. At its close General 
Grant said : 



£>' 



" ' Your Majesty — I am very grateful for the welcome you accord me here to- 
day, and for the great kindness with which I have been received, ever since I 
came to Japan, by your government and your people. I recognize in this a feel- 
ing of friendship toward my country. I can assure you that this feeling is re- 
ciprocated by the United States ; that our people, without regard to party, take 
the deepest interest in all that concerns Japan, and have the warmest wishes for 



74^ AROUND THE WORLD. 

her welfare. I am happy to be able to express that sentiment. America is your 
next neighbor, and will always give Japan sympathy and support in her efforts 
to advance. I again thank Your Majesty for your hospitality, and wish you a 
long and happy reign, and for your people prosperity and independence.' 

"At the conclusion of this address, which was extempore, the 
lord advanced and translated it to His Majesty. Then the Em- 
peror made a sign and said a few words to the nobleman. He 
came to the side of Mrs. Grant and said the Empress had 
commanded him to translate the following address : 

" ' I congratulate you upon your safe arrival after your long journey. I presume 
you have seen very many interesting places. I fear you will find many things 
uncomfortable here, because the customs of the country are so different from 
other countries. I hope you will prolong your stay in Japan and that the present 
warm days may occasion you no inconvenience.' 

" Mrs. Grant, pausing a moment, said in a low, conversational 
tone of voice, with animation and feeling : 

" 'I thank you very much. I have visited many countries and have seen many 
beautiful places, but I have seen none so beautiful or so charming as Japan. ' 

"All day during the Fourth visitors poured in on the General. 
The reception of so many distinguished statesmen and officials 
reminded one of state occasions at the White House. Princes 
of the Imperial family, princesses, the members of the Cabinet 
and citizens and high officials, naval officers, ministers and con- 
suls, all came ; and carriages were constantly coming and going. 
In the evening there was a party at one of the summer gardens, 
given by the American residents in honor of the Fourth of July. 
The General arrived at half-past eight and was presented to the 
American residents by Mr. Bingham, the Minister. At the close 
of the presentation Mr. Bingham made a brief but singularly elo- 
quent address of welcome to General Grant, to which the Gen- 
eral replied feelingly. 

" Dr. McCartee, who presided, made a short address, proposing 
as a toast ' The Day We Celebrate.' To this General Van Buren 
made a patriotic and ringing response, making amusing references 
to Fourth of July celebrations at home, and paying a tribute to 



JAPAN. 747" 

the character and military career of General Grant. General 
Van Buren's address was loudly applauded, as were also other 
speeches of a patriotic character. There were fireworks and 
feasting, and after the General and Mrs. Grant retired, which they 
did at midnight, there was dancing. It was well on to the morn- 
ing before the members of the American colony in Tokio grew 
weary of celebrating the anniversary of our Declaration of 
Independence. 

" The morning of the 7th of July was set apart by the Emperor 
for a review of the troops. Japan has made important advances 
in the military art. One of the effects of the revolution which 
brought the Mikado out of his retirement as spiritual chief of the 
nation and proclaimed him the absolute temporal sovereign was 
the employment of foreign officers to drill and instruct the troops, 
teach them European tactics and organize an army. It is a ques- 
tion whether a revolution which brings a nation out of a condi- 
tion of dormant peace in which Japan existed for so many cen- 
turies, so far as the outer world is concerned, into line with the 
great military nations is a step in the path of progress. But an 
army in Japan was necessary to support the central power, sup- 
press the Daimios' clans, whose strifes kept the land in a fever,. 
and insure some degree of respect from the outside world. It 
is the painful fact in this glorious nineteenth century, which has. 
done so much to elevate and strengthen, and so on, that no 
advancement is sure without gunpowder. The glorious march 
of our civilization has been through battle smoke, and when 
Japan threw off the repose and dream-life of centuries and came 
into the wakeful, vigilant, active world, she saw that she must 
arm, just as China begins to see that she must arm. The mili- 
tary side of Japanese civilization does not interest me, and I 
went to the review with a feeling that I was to see an incongruous 
thing, something that did not belong to Japan, that was out of 
place amid so much beauty and art. The Japanese themselves 
think so, but Europe is here with mailed hand, and Japan must 
mail her own or be crushed in the grasp. 

" The Emperor of Japan is fond of his army, and was more 
anxious to show it to General Grant than any other institution in 



748 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the Empire. Great preparations had been made to have it in 
readiness, and all Tokio was out to see the pageant. The review 
-df the army by the Emperor in itself is an event that causes a 
sensation. But the review of the army by the Emperor and the 
General was an event which had no precedent in Japanese his- 
tory. The hour for the review was nine, and at half-past eight 
the clatter of horsemen and the sound of bugles was heard in the 
palace grounds. In a few moments the Emperor's state carriage 
drove up, the drivers in scarlet livery and the panels decorated 
with the imperial flower, the chrysanthemum. General Grant 
entered, accompanied by Prince Dati, and the cavalry formed a 
hollow square, and our procession moved on to the field at a 
slow pace. A drive of twenty minutes brought us to the parade 
ground, a large open plain, the soldiers in line, and behind the 
soldiers a dense mass of people — men, women and children. As 
the General's procession slowly turned into the parade ground a 
group of Japanese officers rode up and saluted, the band played 
4 Hail, Columbia,' and the soldiers presented arms. Two tents 
had been arranged for the reception of the guests. In the larger 
of the two we found assembled officers of state, representatives 
of foreign Powers, Governor Hennessy, of Hong Kong, all in 
bright glowing uniforms. The smaller tent was for the Emperor. 
When the General dismounted he was met by the Minister of 
War and escorted into the smaller tent. In a few minutes the 
trumpets gave token that the Emperor was coming, and the 
band played the Japanese national air. His Majesty was in a 
state carriage, surrounded with horsemen and accompanied by 
one of his Cabinet. As the Emperor drove up to the tent 
General Grant advanced to the carriage steps and shook hands 
with him, and they entered and remained a few minutes in con- 
versation. 

"At the close of the review General Grant and party drove 
•off the ground in state and were taken to the Shila palace. This 
palace is near the sea, and as the grounds are beautiful and 
attractive it was thought best that the breakfast to be given to 
General Grant by His Majesty should take place here. The 
Emperor received the General and party in a large, plainly fur- 




(749) 



75° AROUND THE WORLD. 

nished room, and led the way to another room where the table 
was set. The decorations of the table were sumptuous and 
royal. General Grant sat on one side of the Emperor, whose 
place was in the centre. Opposite was Mrs. Grant, who sat 
next to Prince Arinagawa, the nearest relative to the Emperor 
and the commander-in-chief of the army. The guests, in addi- 
tion to the General's party, were as follows: Her Imperial High- 
ness Princess Aimayaura, their Imperial Highnesses Prince and 
Princess Higashi Fushimi, Mr. Sanjo, Prime Minister; Mr. 
Iwakura, Junior Prime Minister; Mr. Okunea, Finance Minister; 
Mr. Oki, Minister of Justice ; Mr. Terashima, Minister of Foreign 
Affairs ; Mr. Ite, Home Minister ; Lieutenant-General Yamagata, 
Lieutenant-General Kuroda, Minister of Colonization; Lieutenant- 
General Saigo, Minister of War; Vice Admiral Kawamusa, Minis- 
ter of Marine ; Mr. Inonye, Minister of Public Works ; Mr. 
Tokadaifi, Minister of the Imperial Household ; Mr. Mori, Vice 
Minister of Foreign Affairs ; Mr. Yoshida, Envoy to the United 
States; Mr. Sagi, Vice Minister of the Imperial Household; Mr. 
Yoshie, Chief Chamberlain ; Mr. Bojo, Master of Ceremonies ; 
Prince Hachisuka, Prince Dati, Mr. Insanmi Naboshima, Mr. 
Bingham and Mrs. Bingham ; Ho-a-Chang, the Chinese Minis- 
ter ; Mr. Mariano Alvaray, Spanish Charge d' Affaires ; Baron 
Rozen, Russian Charge d' Affaires ; M. de Balloy, French Charge 
d' Affaires ; Governor Pope Hennessy and Mrs. Hennessy. 

" The Emperor conversed a great deal with General Grant 
through Mr. Yoshida and also Governor Hennessy. His Majesty 
expressed a desire to have a private and friendly conference 
with the General, which it was arranged should take place after 
the General's return from Nikko. The feast lasted for a couple 
of hours, and the view from the table was charming. Beneath 
the window was a lake, and the banks were bordered with grass 
and trees. Cool winds came from the sea, and, although in the 
heart of a great capital, we were as secluded as in a forest. At 
the close of the breakfast cigars were brought and the company 
adjourned to another room. Mrs. Grant had a long conversa- 
tion with the princesses, and was charmed with their grace, their 
accomplishments, their simplicity and their quiet, refined Oriental 



JAPAN. 751 

iDeauty. At three o'clock the imperial party withdrew and we 
drove home to our palace by the sea. 

" The palace of Euriokwan — General Grant's home in Tokio — 
is a few minutes' ride from the railway station. This palace was 
lone of the homes of the Tycoon. It now belongs to the Emperor. 
If your ideas of palaces are European, or even American, you 
will be disappointed with Euriokwan. One somehow associates 
a palace with state, splendor, a profusion of color and decoration, 
with upholstery and marble. There is nothing of this in Euriok- 
wan. You approach the grounds over a dusty road that runs 
by the side of a canal. The canal is sometimes in an oozing con- 
dition, and boats are held in the mud. You cross a bridge and 
enter a low gateway, and, going a few paces, enter another gate- 
way. Here is a guardhouse, with soldiers on guard and lolling 
about on benches waiting for the bugle to summon them to offices 
of ceremony. There is a good deal of ceremony in Euriokwan, 
with the constant coming and going of great people, and no 
sound is more familiar than the sound of the bugle. You pass 
the guardhouse and go down a pebbled way to a low, one-story 
building, with wings. This is the Palace of Euriokwan. Over 
the door is the chrysanthemum, the Emperor's special flower. 

"The main building is a series of reception-rooms, in various 
styles of decoration, notably Japanese. There are eight different 
rooms in all, in any one of which you may receive your friends. 
General Grant uses the small room to the left of the hall as you 
enter. On ceremonial occasions he uses the main saloon, which 
extends one-half the length of the palace. Here a hundred peo- 
ple could be entertained with ease. This room is a beautiful 
specimen of Japanese decorative art, and you never become so 
familiar with it that there are not constant surprises in the way of 
color or form or design. Each of the rooms is decorated differ- 
ently from the others. The apartments of General Grant and 
party are in one wing, the dining-room, billiard-room and the 
apartments of the Japanese officials in attendance in the other 
wing. Around the palace is a veranda, with growing flowers in 
profusion and swinging lanterns. The beauty of the palace is 
not in its architecture, which is plain and inexpressive, but in the 



752 AROUND THE WORLD. 

taste which marks the most minute detail of decoration and in the 
arrangement of the grounds. 

" Euriokwan is an island. On one side is a canal and embanked 
walls, on the other side the ocean. Although in an ancient and 
populous city, surrounded by a teeming, busy metropolis, you feel 
as you pass into Euriokwan that you are as secure as in a fort- 
ress and as secluded as in a forest. The grounds are large and 
remarkable for the beauty and finish of the landscape gardening. 
In the art of gardening Japan excels the world, and I have seen 
no more attractive specimen than the grounds of Euriokwan, 
Roads, flower-beds, lakes, bridges, artificial mounds, creeks over- 
hung with sedgy overgrowths, lawns, boats, bowers over which 
vines are trailing, summer houses, all combine to give comfort to 
Euriokwan. If you sit on this veranda, under the columns where 
the General sits every evening, you look out upon a ripe and per- 
fect landscape, dowered with green. If you walk into the grounds 
a few minutes you pass a gate — an inner gate, which is locked at 
night — and come to a lake, on the banks of which is a Japanese 
summer house. The lake is artificial and fed from the sea. You 
cross a bridge and come to another summer house. Here are 
two boats tied up, with the imperial chrysanthemum emblazoned 
on their bows. These are the private boats of the Emperor, and 
if you care for a pull you can row across and lose yourself in one 
of the creeks. You ascend a grassy mound, however, not more 
than forty feet high. Steps are cut in the side of the mound, and 
when you reach the summit you see beneath you the waves and 
before you the ocean. The sea at this point forms a bay. When 
the tides are down and the waves are calm you see fishermen 
wading- about seeking- shells and shellfish. When the tides are 
up the boats sail near the shore, and sometimes as you are stroll- 
ing under the trees you look up and see through the foliage a sail 
float past you, firm and steady, and bending to the breeze. 

"What impresses you as you look at Euriokwan from the sum- 
mit of your mound is its complete seclusion. The Tycoons, when 
they came to rest and breathe a summer air tempered by the sea, 
evidently wished to be away from the world, and here they could 
lead a sheltered life. It is a place for contemplation and repose. 



japan. 753 

You can walk about in the grounds until you are weary, and if 
you take pleasure in grasses and shrubbery and wonderful old 
trees, gnarled and bending under the burden of immemorial 
years, every step will be full of interest. You can climb your 
mound and commence with the sea — the ships going and coming, 
the fishermen on the beach, the waves that sweep on and on. If 
you want to fish, you will find poetry of fishing in Euriokwan, for 
servants float about you and bait your hook and guard what you 
catch, and you have no work or trouble or worms to finger, no 
scales to pick from your hands. If you care to read or write, you 
can find seclusion in one of the summer houses. If it is evening, 
after dinner, you can come and smoke or wander around under 
the trees and look at the effect of the moonlight on the sea or 
the lake. Whatever you do or wherever you go you have over 
you the sense of protection. Our hosts are so kind that we can- 
not leave the palace without an escort. You stroll off with a 
naval friend from one of the ships to show the grounds or hear 
the last gossip from the hospitable wardrooms of the 'Ashuelot ' 
or ' Richmond.' Behind you comes a couple of servants, who 
seem to rise out of the ground as it were. They come unbidden 
and carry trays bearing water and wine or cigars. If you go into 
one of the summer houses they stand on guard, and if you go on 
the lake they await your return. The sense of being always 
under observation was at first oppressive. You felt that you were 
giving trouble. You did not want to have the responsibility of 
dragging other people after you. You especially did not care 
about the trays laden with wine. But the custom belongs to 
Euriokwan, and in time you become used to it and unconscious 
of your retinues. 

" You wonder at the number of servants about you — servants 
for everything. There, for instance, is a gardener working over 
a tree. The tree is one of the dwarf species that you see in 
Japan — one of the eccentricities of landscape gardening — and 
this gardener files and clips and adorns his tree as carefully as a 
lapidary burnishing a gem. ' There has been work enough done 
on that tree,' said the General, ' since I have been here to raise all 
the food a small family would require during the winter.' Labor, 



754 AROUND THE WORLD. 

the General thinks, is too good a thing to be misapplied, and 
when the result of the labor is a plum tree that you could put on 
your dinner table, or a peach tree in fruition that might go into a 
water goblet, he is apt to regard it as misapplied. Here are a 
dozen men in blue cotton dress working at a lawn. I suppose in 
a week they would do as much as a handy Yankee boy could 
achieve in a morning with a lawn mower. Your Japanese work- 
man sits down over his meadow, or his flower-bed, or his bit of 
road, as though it were a web of silk that he was embroidering. 
Other men in blue are fishing. The waters of the lake come in 
with the tides, and the fish that come do not return, and much of 
our food is found here. The sprinkling of the lawns and the 
roads is always a serious task and takes quite an army for a good 
part of the afternoon. One of the necessities of palace economy 
is that you have ten times as many about you to do service as 
you want, and ways must be found to keep them busy. 

"The summer houses by the lake are worthy of study. Japan 
has taught the world the beauty of clean, fine-grained natural 
wood and the fallacy of glass and paint. I am writing these 
lines in one of these houses — the first you meet as you come to 
the lake. Nothing could be more simple and at the same time 
more tasteful. It is one room, with grooves for a partition should 
you wish to make it two rooms. The floor is covered with a fine, 
closely-woven mat of bamboo strips. Over the mat is thrown a 
rug, in which black and brown predominate. The walls looking 
out to the lake are a series of frames that can be taken out — 
lattice work of small squares, covered with paper. The ceiling 
is plain, unvarnished wood. There are a few shelves, with vases, 
blue and white pottery, containing growing plants and flowers. 
There are two tables, and their only furniture a large box of 
gilded lacquer, for stationery, and a smaller one, containing cigars.. 
These boxes are of exquisite workmanship, and the gold chrysan- 
themum indicates the imperial ownership. I have described this 
house in detail because it is a type of all the houses that I have 
seen in the palace grounds, not only at Euriokwan but elsewhere 
in Japan. It shows taste and economy. Everything about it is 
wholesome and clean, the workmanship true and minute, with no 
tawdry appliances to distract or offend the eye. 



japan. 755 

" Our life in Euriokwan is very quiet. The weather has been 
such that going out during the day is a discomfort. During the 
day there are ceremonies, calls from Japanese and foreign officials, 
papers to read, visits to make. If the evening is free the Gen- 
eral has a dinner party — sometimes small, sometimes large. To- 
night it will be the royal Princes, to-morrow the Prime Ministers, 
on other evenings other Japanese of rank and station. Some- 
times we have Admiral Patterson or officers from the fleet. 
Sometimes Mr. Bingham and his family. Governor Hennessy, 
the British Governor of Hong Kong, has been here during a part 
of our stay. General Grant was the guest of the Governor 
during his residence in Hong Kong, and formed a high opinion 
of the Governor's genius and character. The Governor is a fre- 
quent visitor at Euriokwan, and no man is more welcome to the 
General. Prince Dati, Mr. Yoshida, and some other Japanese 
officials, live at Euriokwan, and form a part of our family. They 
represent the Emperor, and remain with the General to serve 
him and make his stay as pleasant as possible. Nothing could be 
more considerate or courteous or hospitable than the kindness of 
our Japanese friends. Sometimes we have merchants from the 
bazaars with all kinds of curious and useful things to sell. But 
ever since our dear friend Mr. Borie went home the reputation 
of General Grant's party as purchasers of curious things has 
fallen. Sometimes a fancy for curiosities takes possession of 
some of the party, and the result is an afternoon's prowl about 
the shops of Tokio, and the purchase of a sword or a spear or a 
bow and arrows. The bazaars of Tokio teem with beautiful 
works of art, and the temptation to go back laden with achieve- 
ments in porcelain and lacquer is too great to be resisted, unless 
your will is under the control of material influences too sordid 
to be dwelt upon. Sometimes we have special and unique ex- 
citements, such as was vouchsafed to us a few evenings since. 
Our party was at dinner — an informal dinner — with no guests 
except our Japanese friends and Governor Hennessy. While 
dining there was a slight thunderstorm, which gave some life to 
the baked and burning atmosphere. Suddenly we heard an un- 
usual noise — a noise like the rattling of plates in a pantry. The 



756 AROUND THE WORLD. 

lanterns vibrated and there was a tremulous movement of the 
water and wine in our glasses. I do not think we should have 
regarded it as anything else than an effect of the thunder storm, 
but for Governor Hennessy. 'That,' he said, 'is an earthquake.' 
While he spoke the phenomenon was repeated, and we plainly 
distinguished the shock. 

"Nothing could be more quiet than our days in Euriokwan. 
We read and write and walk about the grounds, and fish and sit 
up late at nights on the veranda, talking about home, about the 
East, about our travels, about Japan. Japan itself grows upon 
us more and more as a most interesting study. The opportuni- 
ties for studying the country, its policy, the aims of its rulers, its 
government, and its diplomacy have been very great. In this 
palace which I have been describing there took place yesterday 
one of the most important events in the modern history of 
Japan — a long personal interview between General Grant and 
the Emperor. The circumstance that an ex-President of the 
United States should converse with the chief of a friendly nation 
is not in itself an important event. But when you consider the 
position of the Emperor among his subjects, the traditions of his 
house and his throne, you will see the value of this meeting and 
the revolution it makes in the history of Japan. The imperial 
family is, in descent, the most ancient in the world. It goes back 
in direct line to 660 years before Christ. For more than twenty- 
five centuries this line has continued unbroken, and the present 
sovereign is the 123d of his line. The position of Mikado has 
always been unique in Japan. For centuries the emperors lived 
in seclusion at Kiyoto. The Mikado was a holy being. No one 
was allowed to look upon his face. He had no family name, be- 
cause his dynasty being unending he needed none. During his 
life he was revered as a eod. When he died he was translated 
into the celestial presence. Within ten years it was not proper 
that even his sacred name should be spoken. That is now per- 
mitted, but even now you cannot buy a photograph of the Mikado. 
It is not proper that his subjects should look upon his face. When 
he first received a foreign ambassador (in 1868) his Prime Minis- 
ter knelt at his side while his nobles sat around on mats where 
they could not see him. 



japan. 757 

" The first audience ot General Grant with the Emperor, on 
the Fourth of July, was stately and formal. The Emperor before 
our return from Nikko sent a message to the General that he 
desired to see him informally. Many little courtesies had been 
exchanged between the Empress and Mrs. Grant, and the Em- 
peror himself, through his noblemen and Ministers, kept a con- 
stant watch over the General's comfort. General Grant returned 
answer that he was entirely at the pleasure of His Majesty. It 
was arranged, consequently, that on the ioth of August the Em- 
peror would come to the Palace of Euriokwan. 

"The day was very warm, and at half-past ten a message 
came that the Emperor had arrived and was awaiting the General 
in the little summer house on the banks of the lake. The Gen- 
eral, accompanied by Colonel Grant, Prince Dati, Mr. Yoshida 
and the writer, left the palace and proceeded to the summer 
house. Colonel Grant wore the uniform of his rank ; the re- 
mainder of the party were in morning costume. We passed 
under the trees and toward the bridge. The imperial carriage 
had been hauled up under the shade of the trees and the horses 
taken out. The guards, attendants, cavalrymen, who had accom- 
panied the sovereign, were all seeking the shelter of the grove. 
We crossed the bridge and entered the summer house. Prepa- 
rations had been made for the Emperor, but they were very 
simple. Porcelain flower pots, with flowers and ferns and shrub- 
bery, were scattered about the room. One or two screens had 
been introduced. In the centre of the room was a table, with 
chairs around it. Behind one of the screens was another table, 
near the window, which looked into the lake. As the General 
entered, the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Imperial 
Household advanced and welcomed him. Then, after a pause, we 
passed behind the screen and were in the presence of the Em- 
peror. His Majesty was standing before the table in undress 
uniform, wearing only the ribbon of his order. General Grant 
advanced, and the Emperor shook hands with him. To the rest 
of the party he simply bowed. Mr. Yoshida acted as interpreter. 
There was a pause, when the Emperor said : 

" ' I have heard of many of the things you have said to my Min- 



758' AROUND THE WORLD. 

isters in reference to Japan. You have seen the country and the 
people. I am anxious to speak with you on these subjects, and 
am sorry I have not had an opportunity earlier.' 

" General Grant said he was entirely at the service of the Em- 
peror, and was glad indeed to see him and thank His Majesty 
for all the kindness he had received in Japan. He might say 
that no one outside of Japan had a higher interest in the country 
or a more sincere friendship for its people. 

"A question was asked which brought up the subject now 
paramount in political discussions in Japan — the granting of an 
assembly and legislative functions to the people. 

"General Grant said that this question seemed to be the only 
one about which there was much feeling in Japan, the only one 
he had observed. It was a question to be considered with great 
care. No one could doubt that governments became stronger 
and nations more prosperous as they became representative of 
the people. This was also true of monarchies, and no monarchs 
were as strong as those who depended upon a parliament. No 
one could doubt that a legislative system would be an advantage 
to Japan, but the question of when and how to grant it would 
require careful consideration. That needed a clearer knowledge 
of the country than he had time to acquire. It should be remem- 
bered that rights of this kind — rights of suffrage and representa- 
tion — once given could not be withdrawn. They should be given 
gradually. An elective assembly, to meet in Tokio, and discuss 
all questions with the Ministry might be an advantage. Such an 
assembly should not have legislative power at the outset. This 
seemed to the General to be the first step. The rest would 
come as a result of the admirable system of education which he 
saw in Japan. 

"An expression of gratification at the treaty between Japan 
and the United States, which gave Japan the right to manage her 
own commerce, led to a conversation about foreign policy in 
Asia. ' Nothing,' said the General, ' has been of more interest 
to me than the study of the growth of European and foreign in- 
fluence in Asia. When I was in India I saw what England had 
done with that Empire. I think the British rule is for the advan- 



JAPAN. 759 

tage of the Indian people. I do not see what could take the 
place of British power but anarchy. There were some things 
to regret, perhaps, but a great deal to admire in the manner in 
which India was governed. But since I left India I have seen 
things that made my blood boil, in the way the European Powers 
attempt to degrade the Asiatic nations. I would not believe such 
a policy possible. It seems to have no other aim than the ex- 
tinction of the independence of the Asiatic nations. On that 
subject I feel strongly, and in all that I have written to friends at 
home I have spoken strongly. I feel so about Japan and China. 

"Tt seems incredible that rights which at home we regard as 
essential to our independence and to our national existence, which 
no European nation, no matter how small, would surrender, are 
denied to China and Japan. Among these rights there is none so 
important as the right to control commerce. A nation's life may 
often depend upon her commerce, and she is entitled to all the 
profit that can come out of it. Japan especially seems to me in a 
position where the control of her commerce would enable her 
statesmen to relieve the people of one great burden — the land 
tax. The effect of so great a tax is to impoverish the people and 
limit agriculture. When the farmer must give half of his crop 
for taxes he is not apt to raise more than will keep him alive. If 
the land tax could be lessened I have no doubt that agriculture 
would increase in Japan, and the increase would make the people 
richer, make them buy and consume more, and thus in the end 
benefit commerce as well. It seems to me that if the commerce 
of Japan were made to yield its proportion of the revenue, as 
the commerce of England and France and the United States, 
this tax could be lessened. I am glad the American government 
made the treaty. I hope other Powers will assent to it. But 
whether or not I think I know the American people well enough 
to say that they have, without distinction of party, the warmest 
wish for the independence of Japan. We have great interests in 
the Pacific, but we have none that are inconsistent with the inde- 
pendence of these nations.' 

"Another subject which arose in the course of the conversation 
was national indebtedness. General Grant said that there was 



76o 



AROUND THE WORLD. 




A JAPANESE DWELLING-HOUSE. 

nothing which Japan should avoid more strenuously than incur- 
ring debts to European nations. So long as the government 
borrowed from its own people it was well. But loans from for- 
eign Powers were always attended with danger and humiliation. 
Japan could not go into a European money market and make a 
loan that would be of an advantage to her. The experience of 
Egypt was a lesson. Egypt was allowed to borrow to the right 
and left, to incur an enormous debt. The result is that Egypt 
has been made a dependency of her creditors. Turkey owed 
much of her trouble to the same cause. A country like Japan 
has all the money she wants for her own affairs, and any attempt 



JAPAN. 761 

to bring her into indebtedness to foreign Powers would only be 
to lead her into the abyss into which Egypt has fallen. 

"The General spoke to the Emperor on this question with 
great earnestness. When he had concluded he said there was 
another matter about which he had an equal concern. When 
he was in China he had been requested by the Prince Regent 
and the Viceroy of Tientsin to use his good offices with the 
Japanese government on the question of Loo Choo. The mat- 
ter was one about which he would rather not have troubled him- 
self, as it belonged to diplomacy and governments, and he was 
not a diplomatist and not in government. At the same time he 
could not ignore a request made in the interest of peace. The 
General said he had read with great care and had heard with 
attention all the arguments on the Loo Choo question from 
the Chinese and Japanese sides. As to the merits of the con- 
troversy, it would be hardly becoming in him to express an 
opinion. He recognized the difficulties that surrounded Japan. 
But China evidently felt hurt and sore. She felt that she had 
not received the consideration due to her. It seemed to the 
General that His Majesty should strive to remove that feeling, 
even if in doing so it was necessary to make sacrifices. The ' 
General was thoroughly satisfied that China and Japan should 
make such sacrifices as would settle all questions between them 
and become friends and allies, without consultation with foreign 
Powers. He had urged this upon the Chinese government, and 
he was glad to have the opportunity of saying the same to the 
Emperor. China and Japan are now the only two countries left 
in the great East of any power or resources of people to become 
great — that are even partially independent of European dicta- 
tion and laws. The General wished to see them both advance 
to entire independence, with the power to maintain it. Japan is 
rapidly approaching such a position, and China had the ability 
and the intelligence to do the same thing. 

" The Prime Minister said that Japan felt the most friendly 
feelings toward China, and valued the friendship of that nation 
very highly, and would do what she could without yielding her 
dignity to preserve the best relations. 



762 AROUND THE WORLD. 

" General Grant said he could not speak too earnestly to the 
Emperor on this subject, because he felt earnestly. He knew 
of nothing that would give him greater pleasure than to be able 
to leave Japan, as he would in a very short time, feeling that 
between China and Japan there was entire friendship. Other 
counsels would be given to His Majesty, because there were 
powerful influences in the East fanning trouble between China 
and Japan. One could not fail to see these influences, and the 
General said he was profoundly convinced that any concession 
to them that would bring about war would bring unspeakable 
calamities to China and Japan. Such a war would bring in 
foreign nations, who would end it to suit themselves. The his- 
tory of European diplomacy in the East was unmistakable on 
that point. What China and Japan should do is to come together 
without foreign intervention, talk over Loo Choo and other sub- 
jects, and come to a complete and friendly understanding. 
They should do it between themselves, as no foreign Power can 
do them any good. 

" General Grant spoke to His Majesty about the pleasure he 
had received from studying the educational institutions in Japan. 
He was surprised and pleased at the standing of these schools. 
He did not think there was a better school in the world than the 
Tokio school of engineering. He was glad to see the interest 
given to the study of English. He approved of the bringing 
forward the young Japanese as teachers. In time Japan would 
be able to do without foreign teachers ; but changes should not 
be made too rapidly. It would be a pity to lose the services of 
the men who had created these schools. The men in the service 
of the Japanese government seemed to be, as far as he could 
learn, able and efficient. 

" I have given you the essential points of a conversation that 
lasted for two hours. General Grant said he would leave Japan 
with the warmest feelings of friendship toward the Emperor and 
the people. He would never cease to feel a deep interest in 
their fortunes. He thanked the Emperor for his princely hospi- 
tality. Taking his leave, the General and party strolled back to 
the palace, and His Majesty drove away to his own home in a 
distant part of the city. 



JAPAN. 763 

" In my letter from Nikko I told of the conference that had 
taken place between General Grant and the Japanese Ministers 
on the Loo Choo case. I gave you also a complete history of 
the Japanese and Chinese versions of the difficulty. Minister Ito 
promised to present the views of the General to the Cabinet and 
have a further conference with him. Yesterday afternoon Mr. 
Iwakura, the Junior Prime Minister ; Mr. Okuma, the Finance 
Minister ; Mr. Ito, the Home Minister, and Mr. Yoshida, the 
Japanese Minister to Washington, came to the Palace of Euri- 
okwan and had a long conference with the General. Colonel 
Grant and the writer were present. The details of this conver- 
sation it is not thought advisable to print. The conference was 
long- and interesting, and will be continued on the return of Gen- 
eral Grant from Hakone, where he goes in the morning. There 
is perhaps no harm in my saying that General Grant, while fully 
sensible of the embarrassment surrounding the question, was 
hopeful of a peaceful solution. If war should come, it would be 
the result of intrigues of foreign Powers. Americans, I think, 
will be glad to know that the General has used his great name 
and vast authority with both Chinese and Japanese to circum- 
vent these intrigues and bring China and Japan to a good under- 
standing. He has labored for this on every occasion and with 
unpausing zeal, and has received from Mr. Bingham, our Minis- 
ter, a hearty and sincere support." 

Several excursions were made by General Grant into the in- 
terior of Japan. Among these was a visit to Nikko, about 100 
miles north of Tokio. Nikko is famous for its scenery, and is 
also noted as the burial-place of the greatest personage in Japan- 
ese history, Tokugawa Iyeyasu, the warrior, lawgiver, and founder 
of the last and greatest dynasty of Shoguns, which held military 
power from 1603 to 1867. Another visit was to Yeddo, and 
another still to Kamakara, the ancient seat of the military gov- 
ernment of Japan. Another still was to Hakone. 

"When General Grant returned from Hakone," says Mr, 
Young, in his letter to The New York Herald, "he made prepara- 
tions to leave Japan. We had already stayed longer in the 
country than we had intended, but life was pleasant in Tokio, 



764 AROUND THE WORLD. 

and every day seemed to open a new scene of beauty and inter- 
est, and we felt ourselves yielding to the fascinations of this 
winning civilization. The hospitality of our hosts seemed to 
grow in grace and consideration, showing no sign of weariness. 
We became attached to our palace home of Euriokwan, and 
began to feel acquainted with the rooms, the curious figures on 
the walls, the odd freaks in the way of gardening, the rustic 
bridges, the quaint and clean little summer-houses, where we 
could sit in the afternoon and feel breezes from the sea. The 
weather felt unusually warm, and with the heat came the pesti- 
lence, and, although in Euriokwan, we were not conscious of its 
presence, and felt safe under the sheltering influence of the 
ocean, yet it saddened the community and seemed to rest upon 
the capital like a cloud, and we sorrowed with our friends. 
There were trips to Yokohama, where our naval ships were at 
anchor, and Yokohama itself was well worth seeing, as an evi- 
dence of what the European had done in making a trading camp 
on the shores of Asia. For, after all, these Eastern European 
cities are but trading camps, and remind you in many ways of 
the shifting towns in Kansas and Nebraska during the growing 
railway days. Now that the time was coming when we were to 
leave Japan, there were discussions as to where we should go — 
discussions in which our good friend Admiral Patterson took a 
leading part. The General did not care to go home ; or, per- 
haps, it would be more accurate to say that he did not like to 
leave anything unseen in Asia and the Pacific. As you may, 
perhaps, have inferred from what I have written, General Grant 
has become profoundly interested in these lands and in the 
political problems their future involves. I question if any one 
can see much of Asia without feeling that the politics of China 
and Japan must some day become a paramount consideration for 
Americans. We have discussed various routes that would bring 
us home at Christmas or early in the spring. There is the 
Amoor region, with a glance at Russian Siberia. This trip we 
had almost resolved upon, but the temptations of Japan have 
carried us beyond the time when we should go to the North. 
Then it is the typhoon season, and typhoons come sometimes 



JAPAN. 765 

unannounced in a whirl, and whatever virtues our men-of-war 
possess, as typhoon ships they lack experience. There is Aus- 
tralia, with the Exhibition under way, and some of our naval 
friends sketch a most attractive programme that would take us 
to Melbourne and Sydney, and Valparaiso and Callao, and in 
time to San Francisco. There is our visit to the King of the 
Sandwich Islands — a promised visit — and this is finally resolved 
upon. Admiral Patterson offers the 'Monongahela,' which is 
under orders to return to America. To sail on the ' Mononga- 
hela,' however, would involve two or three weeks longer in 
Japan, and so for the present we cannot go to Honolulu. Our 
Japanese friends invent all kinds of schemes to detain us, and 
Mr. Yoshida is fruitful in suggestions as to excursions to Kohe, 
Kioto, Hakodadi, Osaka and other places famous in the history 
of Japan, which the cholera had hitherto prevented us from see- 
ing. The cholera is everywhere, and precaution can no longer 
avail. What with the friendly solicitations of the Admiral on the 
one side and the Japanese on the other, it is difficult to make up 
our minds to go home. That, however, at the end of our debates, 
appears to be our only course; and when it is found that we can- 
not leave for Honolulu much before October, it is resolved to sail 
for California in the first steamer that leaves. 

"When it was finally determined to return it was surprising to 
see how much we had to do. There was the gathering together 
of the odds and ends of a long journey — the bundling up for 
home. 

"Our last days in Japan were crowded with incidents of a per- 
sonal and public character. I use the word personal to describe 
events that did not find their way into the newspapers nor belong 
to public receptions. There were constant visits to the General 
from members of the Cabinet — from Mr. Iwakura, especially, who 
came to talk about public affairs. There were conferences on the 
Loo Choo question, when General Grant used his best efforts to 
bring China and Japan to a good understanding. What the 
effect of these conversations will be history alone can tell, but I 
may add that the counsel which the General has given in conver- 
sations with Mr. Iwakura and the Ministry he has also given in 



7 66 AROUND THE WORLD. 

writing, and very earnestly, to Prince Kung and Li-Hung Chang. 
Since hearing both sides of the Loo Choo question — the Japan- 
ese case and the Chinese case — General Grant has felt himself 
in a position to speak with more precision than when, in China, 
he heard only the Chinese story. Other questions arose — ques- 
tions connected with the industrial and agricultural advancement 
of Japan. The General pointed out to his Japanese friends the 
large area of fertile land awaiting cultivation, and how much 
might be added to the wealth and revenues of the country if the 
people were induced to develop the whole territory. This leads 
to a discussion of the land tax, so heavy a burden to the people, 
and which the government is compelled to impose for revenue. 
If, instead of taxes on land, the authorities could levy a tariff for 
revenue — such a tariff as we see in Germany and France — then 
the tax on land could be abated. This led up to the revision of 
the treaties, the absorbing question in Japanese politics, and 
which is no further advanced than it was when Mr. Iwakura went 
to the treaty Powers on his mission many years ago. The Gen- 
eral has always given the same advice on the treaty question. 
One of the odd phases of the English policy in the East is, that 
while England allows her own colonies to do as they please in 
tariffs, to have free trade or protection, she insists that Japan and 
China shall arrange their imposts and tariffs solely with the view 
of helping English trade. In other words Japan, an independent 
power, is under a duress that Canada or Australia would never 
accept. This anomalous condition of affairs will exist so long as 
the treaty remains, and England has never shown an inclination 
to consent to any abrogation of her paramount rights under the 
treaty. General Grant's advice has been that Japan should make 
a statement of her case to the world. She should show the cir- 
cumstances under which this treaty was made — how her ignorance 
was used to put her in an unfortunate and humiliating position. 
She should recall her own extraordinary progress in accepting 
and absorbing the modern civilization ; that in doing this she has 
opened her empire to. modern enterprise and shown the best evi- 
dence of her desire to be friendly with the world. She should 
recount the disadvantages under which this treaty places her — 



JAPAN. 767 

not alone moral, but material, crippling and limiting her resources. 
She should announce that the treaty was at an end, but that she 
was prepared to sign the most favorable conventions that could 
be devised, provided the treaty Powers recognized her sovereign 
independent rights. She should at the same time proclaim her 
tariff, open her ports and the interior of her country, welcome 
foreign capital, foreign immigration, foreign labor and assert her 
sovereignty. The objection to this in the minds of the Japanese 
is that fleets may come, and the English may bombard Tokio as 
they did Simonoseki. ( If there is one thing more certain than 
another,' reasoned the General, ' it is that England is in no humor 
to make war upon Japan for a tariff. I do not believe that under 
any circumstances Lord Beaconsfleld would consent to such an 
enterprise. He has had two wars, neither of which have com- 
mended themselves to the English people. An Englishman does 
not value the glory that comes from Afghan and Zulu campaigns. 
To add to these a demonstration against Japan because she had 
resolved to submit no longer to a condition bordering on slavery 
would arouse against Lord Beaconsfleld a feeling at home that 
would cost him his government. Just now,' the General advised, 
' is the best time. Lord Beaconsfleld must soon go to the people. 
His Parliament is coming to an end, and even if he had adven- 
turous spirits in his Cabinet or in the diplomatic service disposed 
to push Japan, he would be compelled to control them. Japan 
has a great many friends in England who are even now making 
her cause their own, and who would support her when she was 
right. More than all, there is a widespread desire for justice and 
fair play in England to which the Eastern nations, and especially 
Japan, need never appeal in vain. Japan has peculiar claims 
upon the sympathy and respect of mankind, and if she would as- 
sert her sovereign rights she would find that her cause met the 
approval of mankind.' 

" Time will show how far this clear and firm advice will be ac- 
cepted by the Japanese. While a good deal of politics was 
talked in these last days between the General and the rulers of 
Japan, there were other and more pleasant occupations. At- 
tached to the palace was a billiard- room, and here every morning 



7 68 AROUND THE WORLD. 

would come tradesmen from the bazaars of Tokio with cloths 
and armor and swords and all manner of curious things to sell or 
to show. The hour after breakfast was our hour of temptation. 
" But while we had our hours of temptation in the billiard-room 
and struggles with conscience — the extent of which, I am afraid, 
so far as some of us are concerned, will never be known until the 
time cometh when all things must appear — we had hours of in- 
struction. Our hosts were ever thinking of some new employ- 
ment for each new day. We grew tired in time of the public 
institutions, which are a good deal the same the world over, and 
after we had recovered from our wonder at seeing in Japan 
schools and workshops like those we left behind us, they had no 
more interest than schools and workshops generally. The heat 
of the weather made going about oppressive, and even the sea 
lost its freshness, and when the tides went down and the breeze 
was from the land the effect of the water was to increase the heat. 
Our interest in earthquakes was always fresh, and whenever the 
atmosphere assumed certain conditions our Japanese friends 
would tell us that we might expect a shock. In Japan the earth- 
quake is as common a phenomena as thunder storms at home in 
midsummer, although there are no laws that govern their ap- 
proach. I have told you of one experienced when we were all 
at dinner, and when we owed it to Governor Hennessy that we 
discovered there had been an earthquake. On that day it had 
rained, and all that I remember specially was that in walking 
about the grounds before dinner the air seemed to be heavy and 
the sea was sluggish. A few mornings before we left Euriokwan 
there was another experience. Our hosts had sent us some 
workers in pottery to show us the skill of the Japanese in a de- 
partment of art in which they have no superiors. One of the 
famous potters had expressed a desire to show the General his 
work. After breakfast we found the artisans arranged in the 
large drawing-room. There was the chief worker, a solemn, 
middle-aged person, who wore spectacles. He was dressed in 
his gala apparel, and when we came into the room went down on 
his face in Japanese style. There were three assistants. One 
worked the wheel. Another baked the clay. A third made him- 



«& 




y/O AROUND THE WORLD. 

self generally useful. The chief of the party was a painter. 
We saw all the processes of the manufacture, the inert lump of 
clay going around and around, and shaping itself under the true, 
nimble fingers of the workmen into cups and vases and bowls. 
There is something fascinating in the labors of the wheel, the 
work is so thoroughly the artisan's own, for when he begins he 
has only a lump of mud and when he ends his creation may be 
the envy of a throne room. It seems almost like a Providence, 
this taking the dust of the valley and creating it, for the work is 
creation, and we are reminded of Providence in remembering 
that when the Creator of all fashioned His supreme work it was 
made of clay. The decoration of the clay was interesting, re- 
quiring a quick, firm stroke. We were requested to write some- 
thing on the clay before it went into the furnace. General 
Grant gave his autograph and the rest of us inscriptions written, 
as well as we could write, with a soft, yielding brush. After the 
inscriptions had been written the cups were washed in a white 
substance and hurried into the furnace. When they came out 
the fire had evaporated the coating and turned into a gloss the 
tints of our writing and the painters' colors had changed, and 
our inscriptions were fastened in deep and lasting brown. 

"It was while we were watching the potters over their clay, 
and in conversation with a Japanese citizen, who spoke English 
and came as interpreter, about the progress of the special indus- 
try in Tokio, that we heard a noise as though the joists and 
wooden work of the house were being twisted, or as if some 
one were walking on the floor above with a heavy step. But 
there was no second floor in Euriokwan, and I suppose the inci- 
dent would have passed without notice if our Japanese friend 
had not said 'There is an earthquake.' While he spoke we 
paused and again heard the wrenching of the joists and the 
jingling of the glass in the swinging chandelier. This was all that 
we noted. We walked out on the porch and looked at the foli- 
age and toward the sea, but although observation and imagina- 
tion were attuned we saw nothing but an unusual deadness in 
the air, which we might have seen on Broadway on a midsum- 
mer day. These were our only earthquake experiences in Japan. 



JAVAN. 771 

"There were dinners and fetes and many quiet pleasant parties 
during our last days at Euriokwan. The British Minister, Sir 
Harry Parkes, proposed an entertainment, but we were about to 
sail, and every night and every day we were engaged, and the 
General was compelled to decline Sir Harry's hospitality. There 
was a luncheon with Mr. House, the editor of the Tokio Times, 
in a pretty little house, near the American Legation, looking 
out on the sea. 

"Among the most pleasing incidents of our last days in Tokio 
was a dinner with Sanjo, the Prime Minister, who entertained us 
in Parisian style, everything being as we would have found it on 
the Champs Elysees — the perfection of French decoration in the 
appointments of the house, and of French taste in the appoint- 
ments of the table. Mr. Mori, who was formerly Japanese Min- 
ister to the United States, and is now Vice Minister for Foreign 
Affairs, and one of the strong and rising men in the Empire, 
gave a dinner and a reception. Here the General met most of 
the men noted in literary and scientific pursuits. Mr. Terashima, 
the Foreign Minister, also gave a dinner, which was Parisian in 
its appointments. Mr. Yoshida entertained a portion of our 
party — the General not being able to attend — in Japanese style. 
Among the guests were Saigo, Ito and Kawamura, of the Cabi- 
net, and our good friends and daily companions, Tateno and 
Ishibashi, of the Emperor's household, who have been sent by 
His Majesty to attend upon the General and give him the ad- 
vantage of their knowledge of English. We had had a stately 
Japanese dinner in Nagasaki, when we were entertained after the 
manner of the old daimios, but with Mr. Yoshida we dined as we 
would have dined with any Japanese gentleman of distinction if 
we had been asked to his house in a social way. Mr. Yoshida 
lives some distance from Euriokwan, in one of a group of houses 
built on a ridge overlooking the sea, on the road toward Yoko- 
hama. There are grounds were the master of the house indulges 
a fancy for gardening, a fancy which in no place do you see it 
so perfect as in Japan. The gardener in Japan is a poet. He 
loves his trees and shrubs and flowers, and brings about results 
in his treatment of them that show new possibilities and a new 
power of expression in nature. 



J J 2 AROUND THE WORLD. 

"Mr. Yoshida had a few lanterns among his trees, but beyond 
this modest bit of decoration — just a touch of color to light up 
the caverns of the night — there was no display. Dinner was 
served in Japanese style. Our host wore Japanese costume, 
and the room in which we dined was open on three sides and 
looked out on the gardens. When you enter a Japanese house 
you are expected to take off your shoes. This is not alone a 
mark of courtesy, but of cleanliness. The floors are spotless 
and covered with a fine matting which would crack under the 
grinding edges of your European shoes. We took off our shoes 
and stretched ourselves on the floor, and partook of our food 
from small tables a few inches high. The tables were of lacquer 
and the dishes were mainly of lacquer. There is no plan, no 
form, in a Japanese dinner, simply to dine with comfort. Of the 
quality of the food I have not confidence enough in my judgment 
to give an opinion. Dining has always appeared to be one of 
the misfortunes that came with Adam's fall, and I have never 
been able to think of it with enthusiasm. I know that this is a 
painful confession, the display of ignorance and want of taste, 
but it cannot be helped. I gave myself seriously to my dinner, 
because I am fond of Mr. Yoshida, and wanted to pay him the 
compliment of enjoying his gracious and refined hospitality. 
Then I thought that it would be something that I might want to 
write about. But the dinner was beyond me. I cannot say that 
I disliked it, and I liked it about as well as nineteen out of twenty 
of the dinners you have in New York. It was picturesque and 
pleasing and in all its appointments so unlike anything in our close 
and compact way of living, that you felt somehow that you were 
having a good time ; you felt like laughing, and if you gave way 
to your impulse it would have been to roll about on the floor in 
the delight and abandon of boyhood. If you did not want to 
eat you could smoke, and if not to smoke to drink — and there 
was drinking, smoking and eating all the time. Your attendants 
were maidens, comely and fair, who knelt in the middle of the 
floor and watched you with amusing features, fanning you and 
noiselessly slipping away your dishes and bringing new ones. 
They were so modest, so graceful, that you became unconscious 



japan. 773 

of their presence. They became, as it were, one of the decora- 
tions of the dinner. They watched the guests and followed their 
wishes as far as comfort was concerned. Beyond that I saw no 
word or glance of recognition. At home your servants are per- 
sonages with all the attributes of human nature, and sometimes 
in a form so aggravated that they become a serious care, and 
you dine under fear in the presence of some oppressive respon- 
sibility. But our maidens might have been sprites, they were so 
far from us, and at the same time their grace and quickness made 
the mechanism of our dinner smooth and noiseless. A eood 
deal of the pleasure of the evening, no doubt, came from the 
fact that we were all friends, good friends, anxious to please and to 
be in each other's society. That would add grace to a dinner of 
pottage and herbs, and when at last the inevitable hour came it 
was late before we accepted it, and when our carriage drove up 
to take us home we took leave of our host and of our Japanese 
friends with regret, and the feeling that we had enjoyed our 
evening as much as any we had spent in Japan. 

"Another dinner worth noting, for it was the last expression of 
Japanese hospitality, was the entertainment given to General 
Grant by Prince Dati. When the 'Richmond' arrived in the bay 
of Nagasaki, and the Japanese authorities came on board to wel- 
come General Grant to the empire, Prince Dati was at their head, 
as the Emperor's personal representative. From that time dur- 
ing our stay Prince Dati has been always with us. The Prince is 
about sixty years of age. Under the old regime he was a daimio, 
or feudal lord, of ancient family, who had the power of life and 
death over his retainers. When the change came, and the power 
of the lords was absorbed by the Mikado, and many of. their 
rights and emoluments taken away, most of the daimios went 
into retirement. Some came to Tokio, others remained at their 
country homes. The great princes, like Satsuma, have ever since 
only given the government a sullen, reserved obedience. You 
do not feel them in State affairs. You do not see them. The 
authorities do not have the prestige of their influence and author- 
ity. There are names in Japan, possible centres of rebellion, 
while the forces of the State are in the hands of men who, a few 



774 AROUND THE WORLD. 

years ago, were their armor-bearers and samauri. The daimios 
appear to accept the revolution and give allegiance to the present 
government of the Mikado, but their acceptance is not hearty. 
Some of them, however, regard the revolution as an incident that 
could not be helped, as the triumph of the Mikado over the Ty- 
coon, and altogether a benefit to the nation. Among these is 
Prince Dati. His position in Japan is something like that of one 
of the old-fashioned tory country lords in England after the 
Hanoverian accession. His office in the State is personal to the 
Emperor. We have all become much attached to Prince Dati, 
and it seems appropriate that our last festival in Japan should be 
as the guest of one who has been with us in daily companionship. 
The Prince had intended to entertain us in his principal town 
house, the one nearest Euriokwan, but the cholera broke out in 
the vicinity and the Prince invited us to another of his houses in 
the suburbs of Tokio. We went by water, embarking from the 
sea wall in front of Euriokwan. The sea was running briskly at 
the time we started, and there was a little trouble in going on 
board the imperial barge which had been sent to convey us. We 
turned into the river, passing the commodious grounds of the 
American Legation, its flag weather-worn and shorn ; passing the 
European settlement, which looked a little like a well-to-do Con- 
necticut town, noting the little missionary churches surmounted 
by the cross, and on for an hour or so past tea houses and ships 
and under bridges and watching the shadows descend over the 
city. It is hard to realize that Tokio is a city — one of the greatest 
cities of the world. It looks like a series of villages, with bits of 
green and open spaces and enclosed grounds, breaking up the 
continuity of the town. There is no special character to Tokio, 
no one tract to seize upon and remember, except that the aspect 
is that of repose. The banks of the river are low and sedgy, at 
some points a marsh. When we came to the house of the Prince 
we found that he had built a causeway of bamboo through the 
marsh out into the river. His house was decorated with lanterns. 
As we walked along the causeway all the neighborhood seemed 
to be out in a dense crowd waiting to see the General. Our 
evening with the Prince was very pleasant. He lives in palatial 



japan. 775 

style. He has many children and children's children have come 
to bless his declining years. He took an apparent pride in pre- 
senting us to the various members of his family. Our dinner 
was served partly in European, partly in Japanese style. There 
were chairs, a table, knives, forks, napkins, bread, and champagne. 
This was European. There were chopsticks, seaweed jellies, raw 
fish, soups of fish and salvi. This was Japanese. There was as 
a surprise a special compliment to our nation — a surprise that 
came in the middle of the feast — a dish of baked pork and beans 
which would have done honor to Boston. Who inspired this 
dish and who composed it are mysteries. It came into our din- 
ner in a friendly way, and was so well meant and implied such an 
earnest desire to please on the part of the host that it became 
idyllic, and conveyed a meaning that I venture to say was never 
expressed by a dish of pork and beans since the ' Mayflower' came 
to our shores. The dinner over and we sat on the porch and 
looked out on the river. In the court-yard there were jugglers 
who performed tricks notable for dexterity, such as making a fan 
go around the edge of an umbrella and keeping a bevy of balls 
in the air on the wing like birds. Then we returned home, part 
of the way by the river, and, as the night had fallen in the mean- 
time and the sea was too high for us to venture out in the boats, 
the remainder in carriages. 

" Our last Japanese entertainment was that of Prince Dati. 
There were others from Americans. Admiral Patterson gave a 
dinner on board his flagship, the ' Richmond,' at which were pre- 
sent officers from our various ships, the Japanese Admiral, the 
Minister and the Consul General. The dinner was served on 
deck and our naval friends gave us another idea of the archi- 
tectural triumphs possible in a skilful management of flags. We 
had the band, which the lovers of musical art at home will 
be glad to know is improving, although it has not mastered 
'Lohengrin.' Lieutenant Commander Clark, however, to whose 
musical enthusiasm the band owes so much, informed me in con- 
fidence that if there was any virtue left in the articles of war he 
would have his musicians go through the 'Wedding March' at 
least before the cruise was over. The dinner with the Admiral 



J J 6 AROUND THE WORLD. 

was quite a family affair, for the officers had been our shipmates 
and we knew their nicknames, and the Admiral himself had won 
our friendship and respect by his patience, his care, his courtesy, 
his untiring efforts to make General Grant's visit to Japan as 
pleasant as possible. When the rain began to fall and to ooze 
through the bunting and drip over the food it added to the 
heartiness of the dinner, for a little discomfort like that was a 
small matter and only showed how much we were at home, and 
that we were resolved to enjoy ourselves, no matter what the 
winds or waves might say. When the Consul General came he 
brought with him rumors of a typhoon that was coming up the 
coast and might break on us at any moment and carry us all out 
to sea. This gave a new zest to our dinner, but the typhoon 
broke on Tokio, turning aside from our feast, and when we 
returned on shore at midnight the rain was over and the sea was 
smooth. There was a garden party at the Consulate, brilliant 
and thronged, said by the Yokohama press to be the most suc- 
cessful fete of the kind ever given in the foreign settlement. 
The Consular building in Yokohama is a capacious and stately 
building, standing in the centre of a large square. It opens on 
the main street. The offices are in the lower floor — the jail is 
an adjoining building. The building and the grounds were 
illuminated with lanterns — festoons of lanterns dangling from 
the windows and the balconies — running in lines to the gate and 
swaying aloft to the crosstrees of the flagstaff. A special tent 
had been erected on the lawn and the band from the ' Richmond ' 
was present. The evening was clear and beautiful and every- 
body came, the representatives of the foreign colony, of the con- 
sular and diplomatic bodies, of the local government, officers of 
our navy with Admiral Patterson at the head, members of the 
Cabinet and high officials of the Japanese government. There 
was dancing, and during the supper, which took place in the tent, 
there was a speech from Consul General Van Buren, in honor 
of General Grant, in which he alluded to the approaching de- 
parture of the General for home, and wishing him and the rest 
of the party a prosperous and successful voyage. To this Gen- 
eral Grant made a brief response and the entertainment went on,. 
far beyond midnight and into the morning hours. 




BRONZE VASE, A SPECIMEN OF ANCIENT JAPANESE ART. 

(777) 



77^ AROUND THE WORLD. 

"On Saturday, August 30th, 1879, General Grant took his 
leave of the Emperor. An audience of leave is always a solemn 
ceremony, and the Court of Japan pays due respect to splendor 
and state. A farewell to the Mikado meant more in the eyes 
of General Grant than if it had been the ordinary leave-taking 
of a monarch who had shown him hospitality. He had received 
attentions from the sovereign and people such as had never been 
given. He had been honored not alone in his own person, but 
as the representative of his country. His visit had this political 
significance, that the Japanese government intended by the 
honors they paid him to show the value they gave to American 
friendship and their gratitude. In many ways the visit of the 
General had taken a wide range, and what he would say to the 
Emperor would have great importance, because every word he 
uttered would be weighed in every Japanese household. Gen- 
eral Grant's habit in answering speeches and addresses is to 
speak at the moment without previous thought or preparation. 
On several occasions, when bodies of people made addresses to 
him, they sent copies in advance, so that he might read them and 
prepare a response. But he always declined these courtesies, 
saying that he would wait until he heard the addresses in public, 
and his best response would be what came to him on the instant. 
This was so particularly at Penang, when the Chinese came to 
him with an address which opened up the most delicate issue of 
American politics, the Chinese question. A copy of this address 
had been sent to the Government House for him to look over, 
but he declined, and his first knowledge of the address which 
propounded the whole Chinese problem was when the blue- 
buttoned mandarin stood before him reading it. The response 
was one of the General's longest and most important speeches 
and was made at once in a quiet, conversational tone. The fare- 
well to the Emperor was so important, however, that the General 
did what he has not done before during our journey. He wrote 
out in advance the speech he proposed making to His Majesty. 
I mention this circumstance simply because the incident is an 
exceptional one, and because it showed General Grant's anxiety 
to say to the Emperor and the people of Japan what would be 



japan. 779 

most becoming in return for their kindness, and what would best 
conduce to good relations between the two nations. 

"At two in the afternoon the sound of the bugles and the tramp 
of the horsemen announced the arrival of the escort that was to 
accompany us to the imperial palace. Mr. Bingham arrived 
shortly after, looking well, but a little sad over the circumstance 
that the ceremony in which he was about to officiate was the 
close of an event which had been to him the source of unusual 
pleasure — the visit of General Grant to Japan. Prince Dati and 
Mr. Yoshida were also in readiness, and a few minutes after two 
the state carriages came. General and Mrs. Grant rode in the 
first carriage, Mr. Bingham, accompanied by Prince Dati and 
Mr. Yoshida in the second; Colonel Grant and the writer in the 
third. Colonel Grant wore his uniform, the others evening dress. 
The cavalry surrounded our carriages and we rode off at a slow 
pace. The road was long, the weather hard and dry, the heat 
pitiless. On reaching the palace infantry received the General 
with military honors. The Prime Minister, accompanied by the 
Ministers for the Household and Foreign Affairs, were waiting at 
the door when our party arrived. The princes of the imperial 
family were present. The meeting was not so stately and formal 
as when we came to greet the Emperor and have an audience 
of welcome. Then all the Cabinet were present, blazing in 
uniforms and decorations. Then we were strangers, now we 
are friends. On entering- the audience-chamber — -the same 
plain and severely furnished room in which we had been re- 
ceived — the Emperor and Empress advanced and shook hands 
with the General and Mrs. Grant. The Emperor is not what 
you would call a graceful man, and his manners are those of an 
anxious person not precisely at his ease — wishing to please and 
make no mistake. But on this farewell audience he seemed 
more easy and natural than when we had seen him before. 
After the salute of the Emperor there was a moment's pause. 
General Grant then took out of his pocket his speech, and read 
it as follows : 



ei i 



'■ Your Majesty — I come to take my leave and to thank you, the officers of 
your government and the people of Japan for the great hospitality and kindness 



780 AROUND THE WORLD. 

I have received at the hands of all during my most pleasant visit to this country. 
I have now been two months in Tokio and the surrounding neighborhood, and 
two previous weeks in the more southerly part of the country. It affords me 
great satisfaction to say that during all this stay and all my visiting I have not 
witnessed one discourtesy toward myself nor a single unpleasant sight. Every- 
where there seems to be the greatest contentment among the people ; and while 
no signs of great individual wealth exist no absolute poverty is visible. This is 
in striking and pleasing contrast with almost every other country I have visited. 
I leave Japan greatly impressed with the possibilities and probabilities of her 
future. She has a fertile soil, one-half of it not yet cultivated to man's use, 
great undeveloped mineral resources, numerous and fine harbors, an extensive 
seacoast abounding in fish of an almost endless variety, and, above all, an in- 
dustrious, ingenious, contented and frugal population. With all these nothing 
is wanted to insure great progress except wise direction by the government, 
peace at home and abroad and non-interference in the internal and domestic 
affairs of the country by the outside nations. It is the sincere desire of your 
guest to see Japan realize all possible strength and greatness, to see her as inde- 
pendent of foreign rule or dictation as any Western nation now is, and to see 
affairs so directed by her as to command the respect of the civilized world. In 
saying this I believe I reflect the sentiments of the great majority of my country- 
men. I now take my leave without expectation of ever again having the oppor- 
tunity of visiting Japan, but with the assurance that pleasant recollections of my 
present visit will not vanish while my life lasts. That your Majesty may long 
reign over a prosperous and contented people and enjoy every blessing is my 
sincere prayer.' 

"When the General had finished Mr. Ishibashi, the interpreter, 
read a Japanese translation. The Emperor bowed, and taking 
from an attendant a scroll on which was written in Japanese 
letters his own address, read it as follows : 

" ' Your visit has given us so much satisfaction and pleasure that we can only 
lament that the time for your departure has come. We regret also that the heat 
of the season and the presence of the epidemic have prevented several of your 
proposed visits to different places. In the meantime, however, we have greatly 
enjoyed the pleasure of frequent interviews with you ; and the cordial expres- 
sions which you have just addressed to us in taking your leave have given us 
great additional satisfaction. America and Japan being near neighbors, sepa- 
rated by an ocean only, will become more and more closely connected with each 
other as time goes on. It is gratifying to feel assured that your visit to our Em- 
pire, which enabled us to form very pleasant personal acquaintance with each 
other, will facilitate and strengthen the friendly relations that have heretofore 
happily existed between the two countries. And now we cordially wish you a 
safe and pleasant voyage home, and that you will on your return home find your 



JAPAN. 781 

nation in peace and prosperity, and that you and your family may enjoy long 
life and happiness. ' 

" His Majesty read his speech in a clear, pleasant voice. Mr. 
Ishibashi at the close also read a translation. Then the Empress, 
addressing herself to Mrs. Grant, said she rejoiced to see the 
General and party in Japan, but she was afraid the unusual 
heat and the pestilence had prevented them from enjoying- her 
visit. Mrs. Grant said that her visit to Japan had more than 
realized her anticipations ; that she had enjoyed every hour of 
her stay in this most beautiful country, and that she hoped she 
might have in her American home, at some early day, an oppor- 
tunity of acknowledging and returning the hospitality she had 
received in Japan. 

"The Emperor then addressed Mr, Bingham, our Minister, 
hoping he was well and expressing his pleasure at seeing him 
again. Mr. Bingham advanced and said : 

" ' I thank Your Majesty for your kind inquiry. I desire, on behalf of the 
President of the United States and of the government and people I represent, 
to express our profound appreciation of the kindness and the honor shown by 
Your Majesty and your people to our illustrious citizen.' 

" His Majesty expressed his pleasure at the speech of Mr. 
Bingham, the audience came to an end, and we drove back to 
our home at Euriokwan. 

" The audience with the Emperor was the end of all festivities ; 
for, after taking leave of the head of the nation, it would not 
have been becoming in others to offer entertainments. Sunday 
passed quietly, friends coming and going all day. Monday was 
spent in Yokohama making ready for embarking. The steamer, 
which was to sail on Tuesday, was compelled to await another 
day. On Tuesday the General invited Admiral Patterson, Cap- 
tain Benham, Commander Boyd and Commander Johnson, com- 
manding respectively the American men-of-war 'Richmond,' 
'Ranger' and 'Ashuelot; ' Mr. Bingham, General Van Buren and 
other members of the Japanese Cabinet, with the ladies of their 
families, to dinner, our last dinner in Japan. In the evening was 
a reception, or rather what grew into a reception, the coming of 



782 AROUND THE WORLD. 

all our triends — Japanese, American and European — to say 
good-by. The trees in the park were hung with lanterns, and 
fireworks were displayed, furnished by the committee of the citi- 
zens of Tokio. There was the band from the War Department. 
The night was one of rare beauty, and during the whole evening 
the parlors of the palace were thronged. There were the princes 
and princesses of the Imperial family, the members of the Cabi- 
net, the high officers of the army and navy, Japanese citizens, 
Ministers and consuls. The American naval officers from four 
ships, the ' Monongahela' having come in from Hakodadi, were 
in full force, and their uniforms gave color to what was in other 
respects a brilliant and glittering throng. It was a suggestive, 
almost a historic assembly. There were the princes and rulers 
of Japan. Sanjo, the Prime Minister, with his fine, frail, almost 
womanly face, his frame like that of a stripling, was in conversa- 
tion with Iwakura, the Junior Premier, whose strong, severe, al- 
most classical features are softened by the lines of suffering which 
tell of ever present pain. In one room Ito sits in eager talk with 
Okuma, the Finance Minister, with his Hamlet-face and eyes of 
speculation. Okuma does not speak English, but Ito gives you 
a hearty American greeting. Mrs. Grant is sitting on the piazza 
where the fireworks can be seen, and around are Japanese and 
American ladies. Mr. Bingham, whose keen face grows gentler 
with the frosty tints of age, is in talk with Sir Harry Parker, the 
British Minister, a lithe, active, nervous, middle-aged gentleman, 
with open, clear-cut Saxon features, the merriest, most amusing, 
most affable gentleman present, knowing everybody, talking to 
everybody. One would not think as you followed his light ban- 
ter, and easy, rippling ways, that his hand was the hand of iron, 
and that his policy was the personification of all that was hard 
and stern in the policy of England. This genial, laughing, 
plump Chinese mandarin, with his button of high rank, who ad- 
vances with clasped hands to salute the General, is Ho, the Chi- 
nese Ambassador, an intelligent gentleman, with whom I have 
had many instructive talks about China. His Excellency is 
anxious about the Loo Choo question, and, when he has spoken 
with the General, advances and opens the theme, and hopes the 



JAPAN. 783 

good offices of the General will go as far as his good wishes 
would have them. Commander Johnson we are all especially- 
glad to see, because he has just recovered from an illness that 
threatened his life, and shows traces of disease in his pale face 
and dented eyes. Captain Benham feels sad over the General's 
departure, and has been expressing his disappointment at not 
being able to take us to Australia. House comes in and joins 
an American group — Dr. McCartee, E. T. Sheppard and Gen- 
eral Van Buren. McCartee is the Foreign Secretary of the Chi- 
nese Embassy, an honorable and scholarly man, who has been 
more than a generation in the East, and now that three-score 
years have been vouchsafed to him, feels like going home. Few 
men have led a more modest and at the same time more useful 
life than Dr. McCartee, and the esteem in which he is held shows 
how much the Eastern people desire to honor Americans who 
command their respect. Mr. Sheppard, formerly an American 
consul at Tientsin, now holding a high and confidential place in 
the Japanese service, is a young man of ability, but does not pro- 
pose to remain in Japan much longer. He has a Spanish castle 
in California, and means to go and live there before he has quite 
fallen under the fascinations of Eastern life. This man, with the 
swarthy features and full, blazing eyes, who greets you with a cor- 
dial, laughing courtesy, and who reminds you a great deal in his 
manners and features of General Sheridan, is the Secretary of 
War, the famous General Saigo, who commanded the Japanese 
expedition to Formosa. The General is brother of that still 
more famous Saigo — a great name and a great character — who 
threw away his life in that mad and miserable Satsuma rebellion. 
What freaks fate plays with us all ! It was foreordained that this 
Saigo should be Secretary of War, and directing the troops of 
the government, while the other Saigo, blood of his blood, bro- 
ther and friend, should be in arms against the government. 
General Saigo is in conversation with Colonel Grant, with whom 
he has become most friendly, and the Colonel is telling how a sol- 
dier lives on the Plains, and what a good time Saigo and the 
other friends who form the group would have if they came to 
America and allowed him to be their host and escort in Montana. 



784 AROUND THE WORLD. 

The other friends are notable men. The one with the striking 
features — a thin face that reminds you of the portraits of Moltke, 
a serious, resolute face that mocks the restless, dare-devil eye — is 
Admiral Kawamura, the head of the navy, famous for his cour- 
age, about which you hear romantic stories. Inemoto, who is 
near him, is Secretary of the Navy. It shows the clemency of 
Japan when you remember that Inemoto was the leader of a re- 
bellion against the government in whose Cabinet he now holds a 
seat. He owes his life, his pardon and his advancement largely 
to the devotion and wisdom of one of the generals who defeated 
him. That officer is now at his side listening to the Colonel's 
narrative, General Kuroda, Minister of Colonization. Kuroda 
looks like a trooper. In another group you see Yoshida, with 
his handsome, enthusiastic face, and Mori, who looks as if he had 
just left a cloister, and Wyeno, fresh from England, where he has 
been Minister, whose wife, one of the beauties of Japan, is one 
of the belles of the evening; Inouye, Minister for Public Works 
— all noted men, and as I have had occasion to observe before, 
all young men. The men here to-night have made the new 
Japan, and as you pick them out, one after the other, you see that 
they are young, with the fire, the force and the sincerity of youth. 
The only ones in the groups who appear to be over forty are 
Sanjo and Iwakura. Sanjo has never put any force upon the 
government ; his mission has been to use his high rank and lofty 
station to smooth and reconcile and conciliate. As for Iwakura, 
although he did more than any one else at the time, they say that 
he has ceased to look kindly upon the changes, that his heart 
yearns for old Japan, and that his eyes are turned with affection 
and sorrow toward the lamented and irrecoverable past. 

" One of the princes is off with the naval officers and is chal- 
lenging Captain Benham and the officers to drink champagne. 
But the Captain has more confidence in the water than the wine, 
and is trying to induce the Prince to come and see him once more 
on his ship. This Prince and the Captain have become great 
friends — the Prince saying that Benham is his elder brother. 
You may not have observed that among our naval officers are the 
lads of the fleet, midshipmen and cadets. It is not customary for 



JAPAN. 785 

the young men to be included in official invitations. That privi- 
lege belongs to higher rank. The young men, however, are here 
to-night. I may as well say, because Mrs. Grant invited them 
to come specially and see her. She wanted to have the boys 
present, for she has boys of her own and knows that boys enjoy 
fireworks and music and high society, beauty and conversation,' 
and like to show their uniforms as much as the captains and ad- 
mirals, which they will be some day. So the boys are here and 
float about Mrs. Grant in a kind of filial way, and have voted her 
as a patron saint of every steerage in the navy. And, supper 
coming, groups go in various directions — some with Mrs. Grant 
and the ladies to one room where there are ices and delicate re- 
freshments, and some, especially the Americans, with Saigo, and 
Kawamura, and Prince Dati, to drink a joyous toast, a friendly 
farewell bumper to the Colonel before he sails home. And this 
special fragment of the company becomes a kind of maelstrom, 
especially fatal to naval men and Americans who are sooner or 
later drawn into its eddy. But the maelstrom is away in one of 
the wings of the palace. In the drawing-rooms friends come and 
go — come and go, and give their wishes to the General and all 
of us, and wander about to see the decorations of our unique 
and most interesting dwelling, or, more likely, go out under the 
trees to feel the cool night air as it comes in from the ocean, and 
note the variegated lanterns as they illuminate the landscape, or 
watch the masses of fire and flame and .colors that flash against 
the dense and glowing sky, and shadow it with a beauty that may 
be seen from afar — from all of Tokio, from the villages around, 
from the ships that sail the seas. Midnight had passed before 
our fete was ended, before the last carriage had driven away, and 
walking through the empty saloons the General and one or two 
friends sat down on the piazza to smoke a cigar and have a last 
look at the beauty of Euriokwan, the beauty that never was so 
attractive as when we saw it for the last time under the midnight 
stars." 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



THE VOYAGE HOME. 

General Grant Engages Passage for San Francisco on the " City of Tokio " — Departure from 
Tokio — Embarkation at Yokohama — Parting with Friends — A Royal Farewell — The 
Last Salute — The Voyage Across the Pacific — Life on the " City of Tokio " — Preparations 
to Receive General Grant at San Francisco — Arrival of the " City of Tokio " — A Grand 
Spectacle — Reception of General Grant at San Francisco — A Brilliant and Imposing De.. 
monstration — End of the Tour Around the World. 




ENERAL GRANT and party engaged passage on the 
Pacific Mail Steamer "City of Tokio," which was to sail 
from Yokohama on the 2d of September. The vessel 
was delayed, and did not sail until Wednesday, September 3d. 
On the morning of that day General Grant and his party left 
Tokio for Yokohama. 

"We were up and stirring in time," says Mr. Young, in his 
letter to The New York Herald, " but our impedimenta was on 
board the steamer, and there was really nothing to do but break- 
fast and departure. The day of our leaving Japan was clear and 
beautiful, and, as the hour for our going was early, the morning 
shadows made the air grateful. While we were at breakfast the 
cavalry came trooping into the grounds, and we could hear the 
notes of the bugle and the word of command. Officials, minis- 
ters, and other friends came in to accompany the General. Shortly 
after eight the state carriages came. We drove slowly away, the 
cavalry forming around us, the infantry presenting arms. We 
looked back and took our farewell of Euriokwan, where we had 
passed so many happy hours. It was like leaving an old home. 
The servants swarmed on the veranda, and we felt sorry to leave 
behind us people so faithful and obliging. General Grant's de- 
parture from his Tokio residence was attended with as much 

ceremony as his arrival. Troops formed in double line from the 

(7S6) 



THE VOYAGE HOME. 787 

door of the palace along the whole line of our route, even to the 
railway station. Military officers of high rank rode with the cav- 
alry as a guard of honor. The crowd was enormous and increased 
as we came to the railway. The station had been cleared and 
additional troops were posted to keep the multitude out of the 
way. On entering the station the band played 'Hail, Columbia,' 
and we found our Japanese and American friends present, some 
to say farewell, but most of them to go with us as far as Yoko- 
hama. The committee of citizens who had received us were 
drawn up in line in evening costume. The General shook hands 
with the members and thanked them for their hospitality. Mr. 
Iwakura escorted Mrs. Grant to the imperial car. Here were 
Mrs. Mori, Mrs. Yoshida, and other ladies. The Chinese Minis- 
ter came just as we were leaving, and our train, which was a long 
one, was filled with friends who meant to see us embark. At 
twenty-five minutes past eight the train pushed out from Tokio, 
the troops presenting arms, the band playing our national air, the 
people waving their farewell, while the General stood on the plat- 
form and bowed his acknowledgments. Our engine was draped 
with the American and Japanese flags. Our train was a special 
one, and stopped at none of the intermediate stations. But as 
we whirled past each station we observed the crowds assembled 
to have a last glimpse of the General. As we passed Kanagawa 
and came in sight of Yokohama Bay, we saw the ships dressed 
from stem to stern with streamers, flags, and emblems. When 
we entered the Yokohama station the crowd was apparently as 
large as what we had left in the capital. There were troops pre- 
senting arms, a band to play ' Hail, Columbia,' and the Governor 
to welcome us. The merchants and principal citizens, in Euro- 
pean evening dress, stood in line. The Governor escorted Mrs. 
Grant to her carriage, and we drove to the Admiralty wharf. 
The road was decorated with Japanese and American flags, and 
when we came to the Admiralty there was a display of what are 
called day fireworks, an exquisite combination of gray and blue, 
of colors that do not war with the sun, spreading over the sky 
gossamer shapes, delicate tints, showers of pearl-like spray. 
There in waiting we found the Consul General, Admiral Patter- 



788 AROUND THE WORLD. 

son, Captain Benham, Captain Fitzhugh, Commander Boyd, and 
Commander Johnson, who had come to escort the General on 
board his steamer. The Admiral was accompanied by Lieu- 
tenants Wainwright and Davenport of his staff. We remained 
at the Admiralty several minutes while light refreshments were 
served. The General then went on the Admiralty barge, Mrs. 
Grant being escorted by Admiral Kawamura, and amid the noise 
of the exploding fireworks and strains of the naval band we 
pushed off. In the barge with the General and party were Sanjo, 
Iwakura, the members of the cabinet, Prince Dati, Mr. Yoshida, 
and Mr. Bingham. The Admiral with his officers followed after 
in the barge of the 'Richmond.' We came alongside of the 
steamer ' City of Tokio,' and were received by Commodore 
Maury, who began at once to prepare for sea. During the few 
minutes that were left for farewells the deck of the 'City of Tokio' 
formed a brilliant sight. Boats from the four men-of-war came 
laden with our naval officers in their full uniforms to saygood-by. 
All of them were friends, many of them had been shipmates and 
companions, and the hour of separation brought so many memo- 
ries of the country, the kindness, the consideration, the good-fel- 
lowship they had shown us, that we felt as if we were leaving 
friends. Steam tugs brought from Yokohama other friends. 
House had come down from Tokio to say farewell and to see the 
last of a demonstration that to him as an American was more 
gratifying and extraordinary than anything he had seen during 
his long stay in Japan. 

" In saying farewell to our Japanese friends, to those who had 
been our special hosts, General Grant expressed his gratitude 
and his friendship. But mere words, however warmly spoken, 
could only give faint expression to the feelings with which we 
took leave of many of those who had come to the steamer to pay 
us parting courtesy. These gentlemen were not alone princes — 
rulers of an Empire, noblemen of rank and lineage, Ministers of 
a sovereign whose guests we had been — but friends. And in 
saying farewell to them we said farewell to so many and so much, 
to a country where every hour of our stay had a special value, to 
a civilization which had profoundly impressed us and which 



THE VOYAGE HOME. 789 

awakened new ideas of what Japan had been, of her real place 
in the world and of what her place might be if stronger nations 
shared her generosity or justice. We had been strangely won 
by Japan, and our last view of it was a scene of beauty. Yoko- 
hama nestled on her shore, against which the waters of the sea 
were idly rolling. Her hills were dowered with foliage, and here 
and there were houses and groves and flagstaffs, sentinels of the 
outside world which had made this city their encampment. In the 
far distance, breaking through the clouds, so faint at first that 
you had to look closely to make sure that you were not deceived 
by the mists, Fusiyama towered into the blue and bending skies. 
Around us were men-of-war shimmering in the sunshine, so it 
seemed, with their multitudinous flags. There was the hurry, 
the nervous bustle and excitement, the glow of energy and feel- 
ing which always mark the last moments of a steamer about to 
sail. Our naval friends went back to their ships. Our Yoko- 
hama friends went off in their tugs, and the last we saw of 
General Van Buren was a distant and vanishing figure in a state 
of pantomime, as though he were delivering a Fourth of July 
oration. I presume he was cheering. Then our Japanese 
friends took leave, and went on board their steam launch to ac- 
company us a part of our journey. The Japanese man-of-war 
has her anchor up, slowly steaming, ready to carry us out to sea. 
The last line that binds us to our anchorage is thrown off, and 
the huge steamer moves slowly through the shipping. We pass 
the ' Richmond ' near enough to recognize our friends on the quar- 
ter-deck — the Admiral and his officers. You hear a shrill word 
of command, and seamen go scampering up the rigging to man 
the yards. The guns roll out a salute. We pass the ' Ashuelot,' 
and her guns take up the iron chorus. We pass the ' Mononga- 
hela,' so close almost that we could converse with Captain Fitz- 
hueh and the gentlemen who are waving us farewell. Her guns 
thunder good-by, and over the bay the smoke floats in waves — 
floats on toward Fusiyama. We hear the cheers from the ' Ran- 
ger.' Very soon all that we see of our vessels are faint and dis- 
tant phantoms, and all that we see of Yokohama is a line of gray 
and green. We are fast speeding on toward California. For 



790 AROUND THE WORLD. 

an hour or so the Japanese man-of-war, the same which met us at 
Nagasaki and came with us through the Inland Sea, keeps us 
company. The Japanese Cabinet are on board. We see the 
smoke break from her ports and we hurry to the side of our ves- 
sel to wave farewell — farewell to so many friends, so many friends 
kind and true. This is farewell at last, our final token of good- 
will, from Japan. The man-of-war fires twenty-one guns. The 
Japanese sailors swarm on the rigging and give hearty cheers. 
Our steamer answers by blowing her steam whistle. The man- 
of-war turns slowly around and steams back to Yokohama. 
Very soon she also becomes a phantom, vanishing over the hori- 
zon. Then, gathering herself like one who knows of a long 
and stern task to do, our steamer breasts the sea with an earnest 
will — for California and for home." 

The voyage from Japan to San Francisco was pleasant but 
uneventful. A head wind held the steamer back during the lat- 
ter part of the voyage, but the run, on the whole, was enjoyable. 

The citizens of San Francisco determined to welcome General 
Grant back to his native country in the most cordial manner. 
Democrats and Republicans joined heartily in the preparations, 
and a number of ex-Confederate soldiers, residing in San Fran- 
cisco, took part in the arrangements and in the subsequent demon- 
stration with a heartiness equal to that displayed by the veterans 
of the Union army. The War Department sent orders to 
General McDowell, commanding the Department of the Pacific, to 
co-operate in all things with the municipal authorities in welcom- 
ing General Grant, and similar orders were sent by the Secretary 
of the Navy to the naval officers on duty at San Francisco. 

San Francisco had been feverishly awaiting the announcement 
that the steamer was in sight. The first tap of the bell and 
the hoisting of the flag on the Merchants' Exchange, announcing 
the approach of the steamer "City of Tokio," startled the city 
from the spell of suspense that has prevailed for the last three 
days, and transformed idle throngs that were lounging about 
the streets into excited and hurrying crowds. Bells began to 
ring, steam whistles to scream, and the thunder of cannon to re- 
verberate over the hills and harbor. Thousands of men, women 



THE VOYAGE HOME. 791 

and children, on foot, in carriages and on horseback, began to 
pour out in the direction of Presidio Heights, Point Lobos, 
Telegraph Hill and every other eminence in the vicinity, eager 
to catch the first glance of the incoming ship. Crowds hurried 
toward the wharves where the steamers and yachts that were to 
take part in the nautical pageant were lying. 

At the moment the alarm giving notice of the approach of the 
"City of Tokio" was struck, the Executive Committee having 
charge of the demonstration were in session at the Palace Hotel, 
warmly discussing the question of carrying out the programme 
next day in case of the steamer's arrival in time, or deferring 
it until Monday. It was three-quarters of an hour later than the 
limit that had been determined upon, but it was at once resolved 
to carry out the demonstration immediately. 

Immediately on receipt of the intelligence that the steamer 
"City of Tokio" was nearing port, the Reception Committee, 
consisting of Frank M. Pixley, ex-Senator Cole, General Miller 
and R. B. Cornwall, repaired to the tug " Millen Griffith," lying, 
with steam up, at the Pacific Mail dock, and at once started to 
meet the incoming steamer. The " Millen Griffith" stood well 
out to sea, and several miles outside the Heads met the "City of 
Tokio" coming in. The tug drew alongside and the Executive 
Committee, quarantine officer and customs officials, and a num- 
ber of the representatives of the press boarded the steamer. 
No ceremony was observed except a general shaking of hands, 
and after the committee had announced the object of their visit 
and informed General Grant of the reception prepared for him, 
the conversation became general as the "City of Tokio" con- 
tinued on her course. Soon after the Government steamer 
" McPherson " came alongside, and Major-General McDowell, 
commanding the Military Division of the Pacific, accompanied 
by his staff, boarded the " Tokio " and rejoined his old comrade- 
in-arms. 

While this was transpiring the General Committee of Arrange- 
ments, with several thousand invited guests, assembled on board 
the large side-wheel Pacific Mail steamer "China," and a number 
of smaller steamers, while tugs took squadrons of the San 



792 



AROUND THE WORLD. 









LIGHT-HOUSE AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE HARBOR OF SAN FRANCISCO. 

Francisco and Pacific yacht clubs in tow and started down the 
channel. 

The sun was declining in the west as the steamers and yachts, 
gay with bunting, moved down the channel. From every flag- 
staff in the city flags were flying, and the shipping along the city 
front was brilliantly decked with ensigns, festooned flags and 
streamers. The impatient crowds that covered the hilltops stood 
straining their eyes to catch the first glimpse of the "Tokio." 

It was half-past five o'clock when a puff of white smoke from 
seaward, from the earthworks back of and above Fort Point, and 
the booming of a heavy gun announced that the steamer was 
near at hand. Another and another followed in rapid succes- 
sion. Fort Point next joined in the cannonade, firing with both 



THE VOYAGE HOME. 793 

casemate and barbette guns, and the battery at Lime Point added 
its thunders to the voice of welcome. In a few moments the 
entrance to the harbor was veiled in wreaths of smoke, and as 
the batteries of Angel Island, Black Point and Alcatraz opened 
fire in succession the whole channel was soon shrouded in clouds 
from their rapid discharges. For some time the position of the 
approaching ship could not be discovered, but shortly before six 
o'clock the outlines of the huge hull of the " City of Tokio " 
loomed through the obscurity of smoke and rapidly approaching 
shades of evening lit up by the flashes of guns, and in a few 
moments she glided into full view, surrounded by a fleet of 
steamers and tugs, gay with flags and crowded with guests, 
while the yacht squadron brought up the rear, festooned from 
deck to truck with brilliant bunting. Cheer after cheer burst 
from the assembled thousands as the vessels slowly rounded Tel- 
egraph Hill and were taken up by the crowds on the wharves 
and rolled around the city front, hats and handkerchiefs being 
waved in the air. The United States steamer "Monterey," lying in 
the stream, added the roar of her guns to the general welcome, 
and the screaming of hundreds of steam whistles announced that 
the "City of Tokio" had reached her anchorage. 

The crowds that had assembled on the hills and along the city 
now, with a common impulse, began to pour along toward the 
ferry-landing at the foot of Market street, where General Grant 
was to land. The sidewalks were blocked with hurrying pedes- 
trians and the streets with carriages conveying the committees. 
The steamers and yachts made haste to land their passengers, 
and in a few minutes the vicinity of the ferry-landing was liter- 
erally jammed with people, extending for blocks along Market 
street and the water front just in front of the landing, the en- 
trances to which were closed and guarded. 

As General Grant reached the shore, Mayor. Bryant addressed 
him at some length, welcoming him to his native country and 
especially to San Francisco, and announcing to him that, during 
his stay with them, he and his family and his travelling compan- 
ions would be the honored guests of the City of San Francisco. 

General Grant was then conducted to his carriage and escorted 



794 AROUND THE WORLD. 

to his hotel by the most superb procession ever seen on the 
Pacific Coast. "At precisely eight o'clock the head of the pro- 
cession wheeled from Market into Montgomery street. The 
crowd so completely blocked the streets and sidewalks that it 
was with the utmost difficulty that the several platoons of police, 
which marched in double rank, could force a way for those who 
followed. They were under the command of Captains Lees, 
Douglass, Short, Stone and Guion. The magnificent strains of 
music from the throats of a band of fifty pieces announced the 
approach of the Grand Marshal, General W. L. Ellis, who rode 
a superb chestnut charger; his Chief of Staff, Colonel A. W. 
Preston, riding- a sorrel. The cavalcade was divided into two 
squadrons, and more martial music stationed between the two 
divisions served to inspire the iron-shod heels of the horses with, 
a life which corresponded with the excited feelings of the crowd 
that watched them. Lincoln Post, G. A. R., of San Francisco, and 
Sumner Post of Sacramento, Farragut Post of Vallejo, Phil Sheri- 
dan Post of San Jose and Lyon Post of Oakland ; the Color 
Guard of Union and Confederate Soldiers ; the Confederate 
Legion ; the Army and Navy Club of Oakland, and the Mc- 
Clellan Legion, made up the grand reunion of the Blue and 
Gray, marching in one column to do honor to the First General 
of the Age. The Lincoln Post bore rockets and Roman candles, 
which they fired in the greatest abundance. Other features of 
this honored line of brave men, tried against each other in the 
hot fire of dreadful battle, were the devices which testified to the 
friendship and forgiveness which now unites them; ' The Army 
of the Potomac and the South ' was the first motto heralded by 
a band to emphasize the glorious sentiment. More fireworks 
and candles lighted the letters which announced that ' The Mc- 
Clellan Legion Welcomes Grant;' 'Army of Tennessee;' 'Army 
of the Cumberland ; ' 'Army of the West ; ' 'Army of the Gulf/ 
with drums to roll out the time to which the old warriors' feet 
keep step ; the Color Guard of Union and Confederate soldiers, 
with the largest silken flag and banner that was seen in the pro- 
cession; the Army of the Pacific;' more flags and veterans in 
citizens' dress pass by, and their rear is covered by another 



THE VOYAGE HOME. 795 

squad of police. A bugle sounded the ' Column right ! ' and 
the clattering hoofs of mettled steeds bore the brilliant uniforms, 
chapeaux, swords, belts, epaulets and trappings that distinguished 
the staff of the Second Brigade into sight, led and commanded 
by Brigadier-General John McComb. Twenty-five horsemen 
rode past and the well-known air of 'Marching through Georgia' 
intervened between the music made by the hoofs of prancing 
horses of Brigade and Regimental staffs. There were no more 
platoon fronts, the militia marching by in columns of fours ; they 
came up Market street at a carry, but as the column turned into 
Montgomery each captain in succession gave his company the 
' Right Shoulder Arms,' and very few of the infantry marching 
over the uncertain and ankle-spraining cobble-stones could avoid 
the duck of the head so inevitable with many men when about to 
execute this motion of the manual. Another band and drum corps 
followed ; then a bugle and then came the Gatling Battery, most 
splendidly equipped, the First Light Artillery, with four pieces,, 
the adjunctive caissons and complete teams of thirty-two white 
horses, the officers mounted on the same file past in beautiful 
array. It would be hard to choose between the Jackson Dragoons 
and the San Francisco Hussars in point of martial mien and 
gallant bearing. The former company of horse made the larger 
turnout of the two; it numbered fifty-seven besides the officers. 
Of the Uhlan caps and Cossack caps there were thirty-four in 
rank and file. An interval of two hundred yards broke the pro- 
cession at this point, and the loud cheers which rent the air sug- 
gested the advent of the carriage bearing the city's guest. But 
the figure which accidentally was the centre of so much attention 
was that of Captain Jack ; the eyes that strained for a sight of 
the Great Captain were disappointed when they fell upon the 
coal-black horse and buckskin breeches that bestrode it. Some 
Marshals' aids attempted to clear a new passage through the 
sea of human life that had closed in, but so eager were the peo- 
ple to see the object of their respect and patriotic love, that the 
column of Oakland Light Cavalry which followed, and which as 
escort immediately preceded the vehicle that bore the person 
of the ex-President, was broken out of all semblance to the form 



796 AROUND THE WORLD. 

of fours, and too hard pressed on all sides to manoeuvre into 
twos. This magnificent militia squadron straggled around the 
turn in broken files. A splendid team of six bay horses, led by 
equerries to steady them through the mighty plaudits, loud shouts, 
sharp cheers and hoarse huzzahs uttered by quick-drawn breaths, 
brought to view two figures seated side by side within the open 
carriage. Mayor Bryant sat upon the left; the right hand of the 
other figure waved a white handkerchief in answer to the greet- 
ing poured from thousands of throats, and the people looked 
upon the long-expected ex-President Ulysses S. Grant. His 
carriage passed out of sight around the turn, followed by a four- 
in-hand containing U. S. Grant, Jr., and his mother, Colonel Fred 
Grant and other relatives and intimates ; the Guard of Honor, 
composed of veterans of the Mexican war, and the Executive 
Committee were in their immediate rear. 

" Many minutes elapsed before the carriages had all passed, 
each containing some of California's distinguished sons or hon- 
ored guests. Among the number were : His Excellency William 
Irwin, Governor of California, and the officers of his military staff; 
Major-General Irwin McDowell, U. S. A., and staff, and Major 
Campbell ; Commodore E. R. Calhoun, United States Navy, and 
staff; members of the Supreme and Circuit Courts of the United 
States, and of the Supreme and District Courts of California; 
Senators Newton, Booth and Farley, and ex-Senator Sargent; 
Congressmen Page, Pacheco and Davis ; Government officers of 
the several departments, and State and municipal dignitaries and 
members of the Board of Trade. The brilliant uniforms of mem- 
bers of the various foreign diplomatic service, the epaulettes and 
gold lace that designate the rank of officers of the army and 
navy ; the sashes that distinguish civil societies and the rosettes 
of committeemen flashed in the occasional rays of light that fell 
upon the magnificent pageant. Another band announced the 
coming of a new division of the line of march, and the delegation 
from the Fire Department came into view. A hose-cart drawn 
by members in their gay shirts and formidable hats led the Fire- 
men's Brigade, and was followed by a splendid first-class Amos- 
keag steamer, drawn by four of the almost priceless animals for 



THE VOYAGE HOME. 797 

which the Department stables have been for so long celebrated. 
The Union League paraded some hundred and fifty strong, and 
the Patriotic Order of Sons of America nearly as many, and bore 
well-executed designs representing, among others, the sentiment 
that the names of Washington, Lincoln and Grant are such as 
shall be respected. 

" The roll of drums and the favorite notes of the Hungarian 
march and other inspiring strains accompany the tread of many 
feet, and French colors and German, white banners and the Stars 
and Stripes waved their silken folds above the dark lines of the 
procession. On either side of Market street for the distance 
of a block were arranged the Garibaldi Guards, the Austrian 
Jaegers, the Bersaglieri Italian Sharpshooters, the Italian Fisher- 
men's Association, and other military and civic organizations, all 
of which turned out in full force. As General Grant passed in 
his barouche they presented arms. The procession wended its 
way very slowly along Market street, which was one blaze of 
rockets, Bengal fires and blue lights. The rays of a magnesium 
light located somewhere near Kearny street were directed down 
the street, and with the fireworks lit up the street until it was 
nearly as light as day. As the procession moved the steam 
whistles of the many mills in the vicinity began to screech, and 
bells brought out from warehouses were tolled, and kept an in- 
cessant clanging, while a steam calliope further up the street 
began to play national anthems." 

With the magnificent reception at San Francisco, our narrative 
of General Grant's travels comes to an end. We have followed 
him through the most remarkable journey ever made, and have 
seen him safely landed upon the shores of his native country. It 
forms no part of our purpose to relate his progress along the 
Pacific coast, or his journey eastward. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF GENERAL U. S. GRANT. 

.Birth and Early Life — Boyish Characteristics — Enters West Point — Graduates — Appointed a 
Lieutenant in the Fourth Infantry — Services During the Mexican War — Promoted to a 
Captaincy — Marries Miss Julia T. Dent — Leaves the Army — Settles in St. Louis — Removes 
to Galena, Ills. — Breaking Out of the War — Grant Volunteers — Made Colonel of the 
Twenty-first Illinois Regiment — Receives a Brigadier-General's Commission — Seizes Padu- 
cah — Battle of Belmont — Capture of Forts Henry and Donnelson — Battle of Pittsburgh 
Landing — Siege of Corinth — Given Command of the Department of West Tennessee — 
Battles of Iuka and Corinth — The Campaign Againsi Vicksburg — Surrender of Vicksburg — 
Grant Defeats Bragg at Mission Ridge and Lookout Mountain — Is Made Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral — The Virginia Campaign — Battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor — 
Grant Crosses the James River — Siege of Petersburg — Retreat of Lee — Surrender of Lee's 
Army — Grant is Made General of the Army — Appointed Secretary of War Ad Interim — 
Controversy with President Johnson — Grant Twice Elected President of the United States 
— Events of His Administration — Retires to Private Life. 

JO much has been written concerning the career of Gen- 
eral Grant, that another biography of him, however 
brief, seems superfluous. Yet the present work would 
be incomplete without such mention of him. It is not, however, 
our intention to offer to the reader anything like an elaborate 
biography of the distinguished soldier whose triumphal progress 
around the world we have related, but merely to glance at some 
of the leading incidents of his life, by which we may hope to 
arrive at a proper estimate of his character. 

Ulysses Simpson Grant was born at Point Pleasant, Clermont 
county, Ohio, about twenty-five miles above Cincinnati, on the 
27th of April, 1822. He came of a race of soldiers, his ances- 
tors having fought bravely in the old French War and the War 
of the Revolution. 

He was born the son of a tradesman — a tanner in humble cir- 
cumstances — and his youth was passed in a country too recently 
settled to possess many of the advantages of civilization. In 
1823, the year after his birth, his parents removed to George- 
(798) 




BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF GENERAL U. S. GRANT. 799 

town, Ohio, and he passed his boyhood in that place. His early 
life was hard, practical, and unromantic, but exhibited in a marked 
degree many of the traits of energy, intensity of purpose and 
self-reliance, for which his manhood has been distinguished. He 
.was a stubborn, self-willed child; he became a man of extraor- 
dinary firmness and resolution. He was fearless and fond of 
danger in his boyish pastimes, and was remarkable for the readi- 
ness with which he devised the means of accomplishing difficult 
undertakings ; as a man this same fertility of resource led to his 
greatest triumphs as a soldier. 

His ambition inclined him to dislike his father's trade, and to 
crave a better education than the schools in his vicinity afforded. 
In order to gratify this wish his father obtained for him from the 
Hon. Thomas L. Hamer, member of Congress, an appointment 
to a cadetship at West Point. Young Grant had been named at 
his birth Hiram Ulysses, but through some mistake his appoint- 
ment was made out for Ulysses Simpson Grant, and this name 
he has ever since borne. He entered the Military Academy in 
1839, and remained there four years. The study in which he 
showed the most proficiency during his course at the Academy 
was mathematics. He graduated in July, 1843, ranking twenty- 
first in a class of thirty-nine, and was appointed Brevet Second 
Lieutenant in the Fourth Regiment of Infantry. He was then a 
little over twenty-one years of age. During the two years im- 
mediately succeeding his graduation he was employed against 
the Indians on the frontiers. He served gallantly through the 
war with Mexico, being engaged in every battle in that struggle 
except Buena Vista. His gallant and meritorious conduct in 
these engagements won him the brevet rank of Captain in 1847, 
and the full rank in 1853. 

At the close of the Mexican War he was stationed with his 
regiment on the northern frontier, first at Detroit and then at 
Sackett's Harbor. In 1848 he married Miss Julia T. Dent, the 
daughter of Judge Dent, of St. Louis, and sister of one of his 
classmates. In 1853 he was sent to California and Oregon with his 
regiment. On the 31st of July, 1854, he resigned his commission 
in the army, and removed to St. Louis. He cultivated a farm 



800 AROUND THE WORLD. 

near the city, and engaged in the real estate business in St. 
Louis. He failed to make a support in these employments,, 
however, and in consequence of this removed to Galena, Illinois, 
where he was employed by his father, who was now in very 
prosperous circumstances, in the leather trade. He was residing 
there as a simple and almost unknown leather merchant when the 
capture of Fort Sumter precipitated the war upon the country. 

As soon as the news of President Lincoln's call for troops 
reached him, Captain Grant determined to offer his services to 
the Government. He said to a friend, " The Government edu- 
cated me for the army. What I am I owe to my country. I 
have served her through one war, and, live or die, will serve her 
through this." 

He at once raised a company of volunteers and marched it to 
Springfield, where he requested the Governor to give him his 
Captain's commission. Being informed, however, that a friend 
desired the position, he generously withdrew in his favor. 

Soon after this Governor Yates appointed him to a clerkship 
in his office to assist himself and the Adjutant-General of the 
State in mustering in the troops. He performed this duty so 
well that the Illinois troops were sent forward with greater 
promptness and in better condition than the State authorities 
had ventured to hope. Says Governor Yates : " He was plain, 
very plain ; but still, sir, something, perhaps his plain, straight- 
forward modesty and earnestness, induced me to assign him a 
desk in the Executive office. In a short time I found him to be 
an invaluable assistant in my office, and in that of the Adjutant- 
General. He was soon after assigned to the command of the 
six camps of instruction which had been established in the State." 

This quiet, humdrum life did not suit a man of Grant's char- 
acter. He longed for activity. He had promptly offered his 
services to the General Government, but no notice had been 
taken of his offer. On the 17th of June, 1861, Governor Yates 
appointed him Colonel of the Twenty-first Illinois Volunteers, 
and sent him to the field. Here his military skill made itself so 
conspicuous that his friends easily procured him a commission as 
Brigadier-General of Volunteers, the commission dating from 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF GENERAL U. S. GRANT. 



80 1 




GENERAL U. S. GRANT IN 1866. 



May 17th, 1 861. He was placed in command of the troops at 
Cairo, and was soon reinforced by McClernand's brigade. 

On the 6th of September he seized Paducah, at the mouth of 
the Tennessee river, and on the 25th took possession of Smith- 
ville, at the mouth of the Cumberland, thus securing access for 
the naval forces of the United States to these important streams. 
On the 7th of November he fought the battle of Belmont, in 
Missouri, opposite Columbus, Kentucky. His force consisted of 
two brigades. The attack was unsuccessful, but the men be- 
haved gallantly, and Grant had a horse shot under him. This, 
his first battle, made him as many enemies as friends, for fully 
one-half of the people of the Union severely condemned him for 
making the attack. 

On the 2 1st of December, General Halleck, who had assumed 

the command of the Department of the Missouri, placed Grant 

in command of the District of Cairo, which was so extended as 

to form one of the largest military divisions in the country, in- 

51 



802 AROUND THE WORLD. 

eluding the southern part of Illinois, that portion of Kentucky 
west of the Cumberland river, and the southern counties of 
Missouri. On the 3d of February, 1862, General Grant started 
with 15,000 men, aided by a fleet of gunboats under Commodore 
Foote, to capture Forts Henry and Donnelson, which commanded 
the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. Fort Henry, on the 
Tennessee, surrendered on the 6th of February, after a severe 
bombardment of an hour and fifteen minutes by the gunboats. 
Fort Donnelson was next attacked, and a series of severe battles 
ensued, the force under Grant having been increased to 30,000 
men. The fort was surrendered unconditionally on the 16th, 
and its fall caused the evacuation of Nashville by the Confed- 
erates. The city was at one occupied. The capture of Fort 
Donnelson was the first real and substantial victory that had 
crowned the Federal arms during the war. Grant was justly the 
hero of the hour, and was at once commissioned Major-General 
of Volunteers, to date from February 16th, 1862. 

With his Major-General's commission, Grant was given the 
command of the District of West Tennessee. His brilliant suc- 
cess made General Halleck envious of him, and an expedition 
of 40,000 men was placed under General C. F. Smith, Grant's 
junior in rank, and sent up the Tennessee. Smith was taken 
seriously ill soon after it had started, and the command devolved 
upon Grant. A large portion of the force lay at Pittsburgh 
Landing, on the Tennessee, for three weeks, while preparations 
were made for an attack upon Corinth, Mississippi, where the 
Confederate army was concentrated. At daybreak, on the 6th 
of April, they were surprised by the Confederates under General 
Albert Sydney Johnston, routed after a severe engagement, and 
driven from their camp. The Confederates lost their ablest 
commander in the West, General Albert Sydney Johnston, who, 
was killed at the moment of victory. Grant was with another! 
part of the army when the battle began, but as soon as informed; 
of it he hurried forward, and reached the field about eight o'clocl- j 
in the morning. Matters were very bad when he arrived, and. 
grew worse during the day, and it was with difficulty that the 
Union forces could hold their ground at all. Grant was every- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF GENERAL U. S. GRANT. 803 

where during the day, animating and encouraging his men, and 
attending personally to the execution of his most important 
orders. While others were despondent, he was calm and cool. 
His great hope was to hold his ground until night should put an 
end to the fighting. Should he succeed in doing this, he meant 
to reorganize his columns under the cover of the darkness, and, 
with the first light the next morning, attack the enemy with a 
fury and determination which he felt sure would win success. 
He knew that General Buell was marching to his assistance, but 
he meant to make this attack whether Buell came up or not. 

Buell's troops arrived during the night, their commander reach- 
ing the field ahead of them. When he arrived, he asked Grant, 

" What preparations have you made to secure your retreat, 
General?" 

Grant replied, 

"We shall not retreat, sir." 

" But it is possible," said Buell, "and a prudent general always 
provides for contingencies." 

" Well, there are the boats," said Grant. 

"The boats," said Buell, "but they will not hold over ten 
thousand men, and you have thirty thousand." 

" They will hold more than we shall retreat with," was the 
grim rejoinder. 

Grant's judgment was vindicated by the result. The battle 
was renewed on the morning of the 7th, and the Confederates 
were defeated and driven back towards Corinth. General Grant 
was slightly wounded in this battle. 

Three days after the battle, General Halleck assumed the direct 
command of the army, and advancing to Corinth, laid siege to 
that place. The Confederates evacuated it in the last days of 
May, and Halleck was called to Washington on the nth of 
July. This left General Grant in command of the Department 
of West Tennessee, with head-quarters at Corinth. In this posi- 
tion he exhibited administrative ability of the highest order. His 
rule was strict and stern, but strictness and severity were needed. 
So well pleased was the Government with his conduct of affairs, 
that the President extended the limits of his department so as to 



804 AROUND THE WORLD. 

include the State of Mississippi, in which was situated the great 
stronghold of Vicksburg, the key to the Mississippi river. 

When the Confederate leaders in the autumn of 1862 began 
the execution of their brilliant plan for dislodging him from the 
territory he had occupied, he penetrated their designs instantly, 
and by a series of movements no less brilliant and more success- 
ful than those of his antagonists, repulsed their attacks both at 
Juka, on the 19th of September, and at Corinth, on the 5th and 
6th of October, and forced them back across the Tallahatchie. 
Had his orders been rigidly obeyed the Southern force opposed 
to him would have been captured, and the rear of Vicksburg 
exposed. 

General Grant's first campaign against Vicksburg was bold 
and skilful in its conception, but was defeated by the treachery 
of the officer in command at Holly Springs. By surrendering 
his post to the Confederates, he exposed all of Grant's commu- 
nications to their mercy, and compelled him to fall back to his 
base of operations. 

The reader is familiar with the long and vexatious delays of 
the siege of Vicksburg ; how plan after plan was tried, only to 
find it a failure. He is also familiar with the fact that the country 
was almost unanimous in demanding the removal of Grant, and 
the appointment of another commander. President Lincoln 
seems to have been the only person who appreciated him, for 
when urged to remove him, he replied that he would first " try 
him a little longer," as he " liked the man." 

Amidst all this clamor for his removal, all the denunciation 
that was heaped upon him, Grant was as calm, as hopeful, as 
silent as ever. He indulged in no unseemly boasts, no defence 
of any kind. He persevered, answering all fault-finders with the 
confident assertion, "/ shall take Vicksburg." This confidence 
affected his generals even while they questioned the soundness 
of his plans. General Sherman, especially, while frankly con- 
demning his commander's plan, earnestly assured him of his 
warm and hearty co-operation in any undertaking the latter 
should see fit to venture upon. 

All the approved plans having failed, Grant resolved to put 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF GENERAL U. S. GRANT. 805 

into execution a plan of his own conception. This was nothing 
more nor less than to sever his connections with his base of 
operations, plunge boldly into the enemy's country, invest Vicks- 
burg, and open a new line of communication with his fleet. He 
accordingly broke up his camp above Vicksburg, ran his gun- 
boats and transports by the batteries at that place, and marched 
his army across the country to Bruinsburg, where, on the 30th 
of April, 1863, he crossed the Mississippi, and advanced upon 
Vicksburg. He defeated the Confederate force at Port Gibson 
on the 1 st day of May, and at Raymond on the 12th, after which 
he marched rapidly to Jackson, where General Joseph E. Johnston 
was collecting an army for the relief of Vicksburg. He attacked 
this force on the 14th and drove it towards Canton. Then re- 
tracing his steps he struck Pemberton's army a terrible blow at 
Champion Hills on the 16th of May, and drove it over the Big 
Black. On the 17th he crossed that river, driving Pemberton's 
forces into Vicksburo- and on the 18th laid sie^e to Vicksbure. 
He completely invested the city, and re-established his communi- 
cations with his fleet in the river above and below the town. The 
siege was prosecuted with vigor, and on the 4th of July, 1863, 
Vicksburg, with a garrison of 27,000 men, was surrendered to 
General Grant. 

Henceforward there could be no doubt in the mind of any 
candid person that Grant was a great soldier. His Vicksburg 
campaign was a departure from the old principles of war, and 
one of the boldest and most brilliant evidences of his o-enius he 
could have given. It showed that he was capable not only of 
organizing a great campaign, but that he could move and fight 
his army successfully, and find victory where others saw only 
danger and disaster. 

For his victory at Vicksburg Grant was made a Major-General 
in the regular army, and given command of the Military Division 
of the Mississippi, which embraced the departments commanded 
by Sherman, Thomas, Burnside, and Hooker. Immediately after 
the capture of Vicksburg, he sent Sherman with a strong force to 
drive Johnston back from Jackson, which undertaking was suc- 
cessfully accomplished. 



806 AROUND THE WORLD. 

Bragg having defeated Rosecrans, and having shut him up in 
Chattanooga, Tennessee, which place he was seriously threaten- 
ing, Grant concentrated his forces for its defence. Being ordered 
to proceed to Chattanooga, he repaired to that place promptly, 
took command of the army, and on the 24th and 25th of Novem- 
ber defeated Bragg's army at Missionary Ridge and Lookout 
Mountain, and drove it back to Dalton, Georgia. This accom- 
plished, he sent Sherman to relieve Burnside, who was besieged 
in Knoxville by the Confederates. Sherman accomplished this 
duty successfully. 

The thanks of Congress, a gold medal from the same body, 
the thanks of State Legislatures and public assemblages of all 
kinds were showered upon the victor, and the whole land rang 
with his praise. Congress revived the rank of Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral in the army, and on the 1st of March, 1864, President Lincoln 
signed the bill, and appointed General Grant to the position. 
General Grant at once repaired to Washington, and on the 9th 
received his commission from the hands of President Lincoln. 
This done, he applied himself to the task before him, declining 
all public honors. 

Invested with the chief command of the armies of the United 
States, he relinquished to Sherman the direction of affairs in the 
Mississippi valley, and applied himself to the task of crushing the 
Army of Northern Virginia, the mainstay of the Confederacy. 
He planned two great campaigns, one under General Sherman, 
against Atlanta, and another under General Meade, against 
Lee's army and Richmond. General Grant accompanied Meade's 
army in its movements. On the 3d of May he crossed the Rapi- 
dan with 140,000 men, intending to interpose his army between 
the Confederates and Richmond. He was attacked in the Wil- 
derness by General Lee on the 4th of May. A two days' bat- 
tle ensued, the result being that Grant suffered a heavy loss and 
was foiled in his effort to outflank Lee. Grant then moved by 
the left to Spottsylvania Court House, but, arriving there, found 
Lee's army in a strong position, from which even his determined 
efforts could not dislodge it. He then marched rapidly to the 
North Anna river, but only to find Lee, in a still stronger posi- 




SURRENDER OF GENERAL LEE. 



(8o 7 ) 



808 AROUND THE WORLD. 

tion, awaiting him. Moving once more to the left, he reached 
Cold Harbor, where Lee occupied an absolutely impregnable 
position. After a brilliant but fruitless assault upon the southern 
works, Grant moved to the James river, crossed it at Harrison's 
Landing, and invested Petersburg. Both Richmond and Peters- 
burg were besieged. The events of the siege are too familiar to 
the reader to need repetition here. General Lee evacuated both 
places on the 2d of April, 1865, and retreated westward towards 
Danville to join Johnston. Grant made a vigorous pursuit, and 
after a gallant but ineffectual struggle General Lee was com- 
pelled to surrender his army to General Grant at Appomattox 
Court House, on the 9th of April. This surrender brought the 
war to a practical close, the other Confederate forces surrender- 
ing immediately thereafter. 

The terms granted by General Grant to the defeated armies 
were o-enerous in the extreme. No harshness or unkindness 
was shown to the vanquished. Bad as he regarded their cause, 
he knew that his prisoners were his countrymen, and that they 
had shown courage and heroism worthy of the American name, 
and he was too true a soldier not to pity them in their misfor- 
tunes. So kindly did he deal with them that many shed tears 
when informed of his generosity. He had been an inflexible foe; 
he now proved a generous friend. 

"After the war Grant fixed his head-quarters at Washington ; 
and on July 25th, 1866, he was commissioned General of the 
United States Army, the rank having been created for him. On 
August 1 2th, 1867, when President Johnson suspended Secretary 
Stanton from office, General Grant was made Secretary of War 
ad interim, and held the position until January 14th, 1868, when 
he returned it to Mr. Stanton, whose removal the Senate had 
refused to sanction." 

At the Republican National Convention, held in Chicago, May 
21st, 1868, General Grant was unanimously nominated on the 
first ballot for the Presidency of the United States, and Schuyler 
Colfax was nominated for the Vice-Presidency. Grant and 
Colfax were elected by an overwhelming majority, carrying 
twenty-six States, and receiving 214 electoral votes against 80 
lor Seymour and Blair, their Democratic opponents. 




(So 9 ) 



8lO AROUND THE WORLD. 

General Grant was inaugurated as President on the 4th of 
March, 1869, with imposing ceremonies. The principal events 
of his first term were the reconstruction of the Southern States, 
the opening of the Pacific Railroad, the unsuccessful effort for 
the annexation of St. Domingo, and the settlement of the 
"Alabama" claims. 

On the 5th of June, 1872, the Republican National Conven- 
tion met at Philadelphia, and by acclamation nominated General 
Grant for re-election to the Presidency. The election came off in 
November, and Grant and Wilson received 268 electoral votes 
to 80 cast for their opponents, and a popular majority of 762,991. 
The principal events of General Grant's second term as Presi- 
dent were the Panic of 1873, the passage of the Act for the 
Resumption of Specie Payments, the admission of Colorado 
as a State, the Sioux War, and the Centennial International 
Exhibition. On the 5th of March General Grant retired from 
the Presidency, being succeeded by the present incumbent, 
Rutherford B. Hayes. 

For sixteen years General Grant had been constantly in the 
public service, without a day of rest from the cares and respon- 
sibilities of the various positions he had held. His retirement to 
private life was most grateful to him. He had long contemplated 
seeking the rest and recreation he so greatly needed in travel in 
foreign lands, and at the earliest practicable moment after his 
retirement from the Presidency he embarked upon the Tour 
Around the World, which we have described in the preceding 
chapters of this work, 



THE END. 



DO YOU WANT TO MAKE MONEY ? 



No business pays so well as an agency for popular Histories, and 
Illustrated Bibles and Biblical works, for they are the class of books 
that every intelligent person wants, and is always ready to buy. 
The only difficulty in the matter is to secure a Valuable and 
Popular Series of Hooks, and such pre-eminently are the 
works that we are now publishing. No series published will com- 
pare with them in real value, interest, and popularity. 

J8@° Being the most extensive subscription book Publishers in 
the United States, and having four houses, we can afford to sell 
books cheaper and pay Agents more liberal commissions than any 
other company. 

Our books do not pass through the hands of General Agents, (as 
nearly all other subscription works do,) therefore we are enabled to 
give our canvassers the extra per cent, which other publishers allow 
to General Agents. Experienced canvassers will see the advantages 
of dealing directly with the publishers. 

5^° By engaging in this business young men will educate 
chemselves in that knowledge of the country, and of men and things, 
which is acquired only by traveling and observation, and which is 
recognized by all as essential to every business man. 

Old agents, and all others who want the Best Paying Agen~ 
des, will please send for circulars and see our terms, and 
compare them, and the character of our works, with those of 
other publishers. 

Address, NATIONAL PUBLISHING CO., 

At either of the following Places, (whichever is nearest to you): 

724=, 726 & 73S Clierry St., I»liilaclelpTtiia 9 JPa. 
116 Cast Randolph Street, Chicago, 111. 
4=30 Market Street, St. Louis, Mo. 
SO Decatur St., Atlanta, Ga, 

t3f° The following pages contain a Catalogue of some 
of our most valuable and popular Works, a specimen 
copy of either of which will be sent by mail, postage 
paid, to any address, on receipt of price. 



J3MBKACI3TQ FULL AND AUTHENTIC ACCOUNTS OF 



J^HTJD XHTCXjTTJDXHTG- 
A History of the Bise and Pall of the Greek and Roman Empires, the 
Growth of the Nations of Modern Europe, the Middle Ages, the 
Crusades, the Feudal System, the Reformation, the Dis- 
covery and Settlement of the New World 4 Etc., Etc. 

BY JAMES D. McCABE,— The Well-Known Historian. 

1BELIISHE0 ITU OKI 650 FINE KISTOHL ENGRAVINGS 10 PORTRAITS. 

THIS work has taken rank as the Standard History of the World. It contains 
a separate and admirably written history of every nation of ancient and 
modern times, and is full of the most valuable information, presented in a man- 
ner that will enable the reader to refer instantly to any subject upon which 
information is desired. The book is a complete treasury of history, and there 
is not a question that can be asked concerning any historical subject, but an 
answer to it can be found in this great work. The author does not content 
himself with a mere dry statement of facts, but sketches the life and manners 
of the various nations of which he treats, in life-like colors, and presents to the 
reader the causes which led to the prosperity and decay of the great powers of 
the world. He shows us the various great men — the warriors, statesmen, poets, 
sages and orators — of ancient and modern t'uies, and makes them familiar to 
the reader. A valuable feature of this work is a full History of the late War 
between Bussia and Turkey. This is the only complete history of this was: pub= 
Iished. 

CONDITIOMS. 

it is comprised in one royal octavo volume of 1260 large double-column pages, and 
is embellished with over 650 fine engravings, embracing battles and other historical 
scenes ; portraits of the great men of ancient and modern times ; and views of the princi- 
pal cities of the world. These engravings are genuine works of art, and were made at a 
cost of over $25,000, The great number and high character of these engravings make 
this the most valuable art publication of the century. The work will be furnished to 
subscribers, in neat and substantial binding, at the following prices, which are very low 
for such a large and magnificent book. per copy. 

Bound in Fine Cloth, full Gilt Side and Back, at $5.00 

Bound in Full Sheep, Marbled Edges, at 6.00 

Bound in Library Style, {Morocco Bach and Corners), Gilt Edges, at 6.50 



| K M — The great desire everywhere manifested to obtain 
x JU " this work, and the low price at which it is sold, 
combined with the very liberal commissions, make it the best opportunity for Agents to 
make money ever offered. They are meeting with unprecedented success, selling from 
ten to fifteen copies per day. 

SEND FOR OUR EXTRA TERMS TO AGENTS, AND A FULL DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK. 



Address, 

MUUU,,U1 ' uw " ull,,l b ^^'i 
At either of the following places [ivhichever is nearest to you :) 

Philadelphia, Pa. ; Chicago, III. ; St. Louis, Mo. : or Atlanta, Ga. 

PASS TinN — Old, Incomplete and Unreliable Histories are being circulated; see 
UMU I 8U5«. t ] iat tne k 00 k you b U y contains 672 Fine Historical Engrav- 
ings and Portraits, and 2260 large double-column pages. 



READ WHAT THE PRESS SAYS OF THE WORK, 



From The Christian Instructor, Philadelphia, Pa. 

A Very Valuable History. — The Pictorial 
History of the World, embracing full and authentic 
accounts of every nation of ancient and modern times, 
and including a History of the rise and fall of the 
Greek and Roman Empires, the growth of the nations 
of Modern Europe, the Middle Ages, the Crusades, 
the Feudal System, the Reformation, the discovery 
and settlement of the New World, etc., etc., by James 
D. McCabe, a well known historical writer. 

The great mass of the people have been com- 
jielled to rely, for their knowledge of history, upon 
the outline works intended for the use of schools, 
which by their very nature are brief and only de- 
signed for the comprehension of children. There 
has long been felt a genuine want of a more elabo- 
rate History of the World, covering the whole pe- 
riod from the creation to the present day, and pre- 
senting in a succinct and entertaining form the 
history of the various nations of the world. This 
demand we are happy to say is being met in this 
work, which is destined to take rank as a Stan- 
dard History. The book is literally what it pro- 
fesses to be — a complete History of the World — for 
it gives a clear and concise account of every nation 
that has ever flourished upon the globe. The 
history of each country is related separately, 
and in the clearest and most comprehensive 
manner, and the deeds of all the great actors 
in the events of ancient and modern history 
are brought before the reader in the most vivid 
style. Ancient history is related in full, and the 
accounts of the Middle Ages, the Crusades, and 
the great nations of modern times, are equally 
complete and interesting. It is as fascinating as 
a romance, and at the same time one of the most 
valuable works of reference ever published. We 
are constantly called upon to discuss the great 
questions of history, and the wars and quarrels of 
the nations of the old world require us to be con- 
tinually refreshing our historical knowledge. So 
many discoveries have recently been made, so 
many of the old ideas and traditions have been 
exploded and shown to be mere myths and le- 
gends, that the subject of history may be said to 
be almost entirely new, and he who was well in- 
formed twenty years ago will find himself unable 
to discourse intelligibly upon historical subjects 
now unless he has kept up with the advance of 
historical research. The mechanical execution 
of the book fully sustains the high reputation of 
the publishers, and the price is so low that every 
one can afford to purchase a copy. 



From The Journal, Chicago, 111. 
This book, from the first page to the last, is 
interesting and instructive. We never remember 
to have seen a book that so completely fills the 
wants of the general reader, as this does. The 
History of Greece, Rome, the nations of Europe, 
America, all are found in its pages. To all who 
wish to study the history of the various nations of 
ancient and modern times, without delving into 
hundreds of volumes, it is invaluable, for it con- 
tains the pith of hundreds of histories. Especially 
to the young is this book a treasure, and we trust 
that every one of our readers will subscribe for it. 



From The Methodist, New York City. 
This is one of the most valuable works ever 
issued by an American publisher, and it is in all 
respects the most complete History of the World 
ever published. The author does not content 
himself with a mere dry statement of facts, but 
sketches the life and manners of the various na- 
tions of which he treats in life-like colors. He 
shows us the famous warriors, statesmen, poets, 
sages and orators of ancient and modern times, 
and makes them familiar to the reader. The 
book is a complete treasury of history, and there 
is not a question that can be asked concerning 
any historical subject but an answer to it can be 
found in this great work. It contains 1260 large 
double-column pages, and is embellished with 
over 650 fine engravings, embracing battles and 
other historical scenes ; portraits of the great men 
of ancient and modern times, and views of the 
principal cities of the world. These engravings 
are genuine works of art, and were made at a cost 
of over $25,000. The great n amber and high 
character of these engravings make this the most 
valuable art publication of the century. We can- 
not too highly praise the numerous and beautiful 
portraits of historical personages with which it 
abounds. _____ 

From Frank Leslie's Illustrated Weekly, 
New York City. 
McCabe's "Pictorial History of the World," pub- 
lished by the National Publishing Company, has 
many merits. It is well planned, touching upon 
the really important men and events, both an- 
cient and modern ; is well written in clear and 
intelligent style, is handsomely illustrated, and is 
printed and bound in a substantial and first-class 
manner. It contains a feature found in no other 
publication yet issued — a complete history of the 
late war between Turkey and Russia, and is in 
all respects a thoroughly trustworthy and com- 
mendable work. Book agents would double their 
profits if restricted to works like The Pictorial 
History of the World. 



From The Republican, Bellefonte, Pa. 

This book is literally a library in itself, and is 
one of the most valuable works ever offered to 
the public. It presents to the reader a mass of 
information respecting ancient, mediaeval and 
modern history not to be found in any other book. 

Here is an opportunity for the many idle 
men in our midst to apply for a job, which we 
are satisfied will pay them well. It is a very in- 
teresting work, and there is no reason why a man 
should not earn from five to ten dollars a day 
over his expenses selling it in this and adjoining 
communities. No intelligent man who has any 
money can well resist the temptation to buy it. 



From The "Weekly Witness, New York City. 

This is the most valuable book that has been 
published in this country for many years. It is 
the only complete History of the World in print, 
and agents will find that this book will sell readily, 
from the fact that it is a work that all intelligent 
people really need. 



Agents should know with whom they deal, therefore we 
append the following sketch of the life of J. It. Jones, the 
President of the National Publishing Company, which was 
published in the " Advertiser's Gazette," a well-known com- 
mercial paper of New York City. 



Joshua K. Jones was born near the village of Fawn G-rove, in York County, 
Pennsylvania, on the 28th of August, 1837. His father was a farmer, and young 
Joshua remained at home until his eighteenth year, working on the farm during 
the summer, and attending the public school in the winter. He was impressed 
at an early age by his parents, with those qualities of industry, energy and self- 
reliance, which have distinguished his manhood, and to these early lessons much 
of his success may be attributed. He spent one year at a boarding-school in 
Loudon County, Virginia — completed his studies at the Pennsylvania State Nor- 
mal School, and taught one year in a public school near his home, in York Co. 

After the close of his school, he met with an agent who was canvassing his 
neighborhoc d for subscribers to a popular work, then being published. He was 
at that time endeavoring to decide upon some means of earning his living more 
consistent with his energetic nature than the quiet hum-drum life of a teacher, 
and this new method of selling books at once attracted his attention. The agent 
was pleased with the interest young Jones manifested in his business, and advised 
him to make the experiment of canvassing. Mr. Jones decided to do so, and 
upon making application to the publishing firm, was directed to canvass the 
County of Harford, in the State of Maryland, which he did so thoroughly that 
he was assigned another county. The canvass of these two counties occupied 
Mr. Jones about a year, and netted him a considerable sum of money. 

After closing up his business here, he went to the Western States, where he 
renewed his efforts and was as successful as in the East. During his residence 
in the West, he travelled extensively through that great section of the country, 
selling books, and learning by experience and by contact with them, the actual 
wants of the people. Returning from the West, after a canvassing tour of nearly 
three years, he assisted in organizing a Subscription Book Publishing House, in 
Philadelphia, of which he was chosen President. Mr. Jones was especially fitted 
for the position, by reason of his long experience as an agent or canvasser. 

In entering upon his new duties, Mr. Jones laid down a few plain and simple 
rules for his guidance. These were : To publish nothing but works of merit ; to 
conduct his business upon principles of the strictest promptness and integrity. 
By keeping his books constantly before the public, he knew that he could create a 
demand for them, and he was fully alive to the advantages of publishing nothing 
but Standard Works. His expectations have been fully realized. 

Soon after the organization of the National Publishing Co., it was decided to 
open a branch house in Chicago, Illinois. The reason for this step was, the 
branch house could reach that immense field which the growing Wes,t offers, 
much easier than the main house in Philadelphia. The experiment was success- 
ful, and was repeated in other places. Each branch house is in charge of an expe- 
rienced manager, and is under the supervision of the President of the Company. 

The National Publishing Company now constitutes the wealthiest, most exten- 
sive, and most successful subscription book publishing house in the United States. 
They have issued many very valuable works, which have had immense sales. 

Mr. Jones is still a young man, being old in experience, not in years. In his 
business relations he is a model for young men. The discipline of his establish- 
ment is rigid, but his clerks and employees are devoted to him. They have been 
with him now for years, and would not leave him for any other place. The whole 
establishment is neat and orderly, and every detail is arranged with great care. 
The eye of the President is on everything. He knows the whole business tho- 
roughly, and can turn his hand to anything. Hundreds of letters come to him 
every week, asking for advice and instructions. They are promptly and satisfac- 
torily answered, and his instructions generally lead to success if faithfully fol- 
lowed. He has no idle moments. Besides directing the operations of such a 
large establishment, he has to watch over the hundreds of canvassers who are 
working for the Company. He has made his own fortune and that of the Com- 
pany over which he presides, and has won a name for integrity, business capacity,, 
and energy, which has made him a marked man in his calling. 



NEW DEVOTIONAL AND PRACTICAL 
PlOTOIIAL FAULT 

With over 2500 Fine Scripture Illustrations. 

Yff)UR DEVOTIONAL AND PRACTICAL PICTORIAL FAMILY BIBLE is thf 

iSs® most perfect and comprehensive edition ever published in this country. 
^SS® In addition to the Old and New Testaments, Apocrypha, Concordance and Psalms 
in Metre, it contains a large amount of explanatory matter, compiled with great care, and 
furnishing a complete encyclopedia of Biblical knowledge. 

The following are among its leading features : 

1. A comprehensive and critical History of all the Books of the Bible. 

2. A very elegant and elaborate Marriage Certificate, with designs, etc., in seven colors. 

3. A History of all the existing Religious Denominations in the world, and the various 
Sects, both ancient and modern. 

4. Beautifully illuminated pages of the Lord's Prayer and Ten Commandments. 

5. A very unique Family Record for Marriages, Births and Deaths, printed in colors. 

6. The History of the Translation of the English Bible. 

7. A handsome Photograph Album for sixteen Portraits, printed in colors. 

8. A complete and practical household Dictionary of the Bible, comprising its Antiqui- 
ties, Biography, Geography and Natural History, by the great Biblical scholar, William 
Smith, LL. D. Expounding every subject mentioned in the Bible. 

.6®=- Special attention is called to the great value of this feature. Dr. Smith's is everywhere conceded 
to be the most comprehensive and valuable Bible Dictionary ever published. 

9. Over 2500 fine Scripture Illustrations, accurately showing the Manners and Customs 
of the Period, Biblical Antiquities and Scenery, Natural History, etc., etc. 

10. Topographical Sketch of the Hoi" Land, with Maps and Panoramic views of the 
country as occupied by the different tribes. 

11. Illustrations of Jerusalem and its environs, showing the Holy City as it appeared ia 
the time of David and again in the time of Christ. The Mount of Olives, Mount Zion, etc. 

12. The Wanderings in the Wilderness, with Map and Illustrations showing the Wilder- 
ness of Sinai, the Camp of the Israelites, Standards of the Twelve Tribes, etc. 

13. Illustrations of the Tabernacle and Solomon's Temple, with plans, altars, ark, golden 
«andlestick, brazen laver, breastplate, molten sea, and the high priest in his various offices. 

14. Illustrations of scenes and incidents in the Life of Christ. 

15. The Cities and Towns of the Bible, showing all the important places in Palestine. 

16. Scenes in the Lives of the Patriarchs, Prophets and Kings of the Old Testament. 

17. Illustrations of the Animals, Birds, Insects, Reptiles, etc., mentioned in the Bible. 

18. Illustrations of the prominent events in the Life of St. Paul. 

19. Illustrations of the trees, plants and flowers of the Bible. 

20. Fac-similes of Ancient Coins, with a description of each, including the Hebrew, 
Greek and Roman coins, with their value in gold. 

21. A Harmony of the Four Gospels, and Analysis of the Bible. 

22. A Table of contents of the Old and New Testaments, so arranged that any subject 
■or occurrence mentioned in the Bible can be readily referred to. 

23. A Plan showing how the Bible may be read through in a year. 

24. A Table showing how the earth was repeopled by the descendants of Noah. 

25. Nearly One Hundred Thousand Marginal References and Readings. 

26. A Chronological Table, showing the principal events of Jewish and contemporaneous 
History, from the creation of the world to the present time. 

27. A Table of the Kings and Prophets of Judah and Israel, arranged in parallels. 

The following are specimens of letters that we have received from 
Clergymen and from Agents who are selling our Bible: 

Bev. W. S. Black, of Monroe, Union Co., N. 0., writes : — " Every person is delighted with your Bible. 
It is the most complete, and gives more entire satisfaction than any other Bible I ever saw. I sold 11 copies 
in one day, 13 in another, and 17 in another, mostly in the finest style of binding." 



Kev. J. G. Monfort. D. D., of Cincinnati, 0., writes: — "This Family Bible is of inestimable value. Its 
pictures impress sacred characters and scenes upon the imagination, and its maps, tables and marginal refer, 
inces make it the best of all Commentaries. Let no family that can afford it be without thu large, weJ'- 
printed, handsomeli-bound and illustrated copy of the Word of God." 



$W This very interesting and valuable Work will be sent to 
any address, postage paid, on receipt of Price. 



SEXUAL SCIENCE 



INCLUDING 



J 



MANHOOD, WOMANHOOD, 

AND 

THEIR MUTUAL INTER-RELATIONS; 



LOVE, ITS LAWS, POWER, ETC. 



The work treats of" SEXUAL SCIENCE," which is simply that great code of natural 
laws by which men and women are governed in their mutual relations. A knowledge 
of these laws is of the highest importance, and it is the general ignorance of them which 
wrecks so many lives that would otherwise be happy. 

OF LOVE, showing how it affects every relation in life; how, when properly applied, 
it is the great promoter of health and happiness ; and how, when misdirected or thwarted, 
it is the source of sorrow, sickness, vice, arid death. 

OF LOVE MAKING AND SELECTION, showing how love affairs should be con- 
ducted, and revealing the laws which govern male and female attraction and repulsion;' 
what qualities make a good, and a poor, husband or wife, and what given persons should 
select and reject ; what forms, sizes, etc., may, and must not, intermarry. 

OF MARRIAGE, its sacreduess and necessity ; of perfect and miserable unions ; and 
of all that it is necessary to know concerning this most important relation in life. 

OF BEARING AND NURSING.— This portion being a complete encyclopaedia for 
prospective mothers, showing how to render confinement easy, and manage infants. 

OF SEXUAL RESTORATION.— This is a very important part of the work ; because 
almost all men and women, if not diseased, are run down. The laws of sexual recupera- 
tion are here, for the first time, unfolded, and the whole subject thoroughly and 
scientifically treated ; giving the cause and cure of female ailments, seminal losses, 
sexual impotence, etc. 

XT' TEZ-X-S 

How to promote sexual vigor, the prime duty of every man and woman. 

How to make a right choice of husband or wife ; what persons are suited to each other. 

How to judge a man or woman's sexual condition by visible signs. 

How young husbands should treat their brides ; and how to increase their love. 

How to avoid an improper marriage, and how to avoid female ailments. 

How to increase the joys of wedded Life, and how to increase female passion. 

How to regulate intercourse between man and wife, and how to make it 
healthful to both ; ignorance of this law is the cause of nearly all the woes of marriage. 

How to have fine and healthy children, and how to transmit mental and 
physical qualities to offspring. 

How to avoid the evils attending pregnancy. 

How intercourse out of wedlock is injurious; a warning to young men. 

How to restore and perpetuate female beauty, and how to promote the growth 
of the female bust. 

There is scarcely a question concerning the most serious duties of life which is not 
fully and satisfactorily answered in this book. Such a work has long been needed, and 
will be found invaluable to every man and woman who has arrived at the years of 
discretion. It should be read especially by the married, and by those who have the care 
of children, and it will carry happiness with it wherever it goes. 

The book is pure and elevated in tone; eloquent in its denunciations of vice; and 
forcible in its warnings against the secret sins which are practised with impunity in 
nearly every community. 

COWDITIONS: 
It is comprised in one large royal octavo volume of 1065 pages, illustrated with nearly 
200 appropriate Engravings, prepared under the personal supervision of the author, and 
furnished to subscribers 

In Extra Fine Ruby Cloth, - - at $3.75 per Copy. 

In Fine Leather, [Library Style,) - at $4.50 " 

-Send for circulars containing extra terrr*" *♦ Agents,, 
and a fuller description of the work. 

Address, NATIONAL PUBLISHING CO, 

PHILADELPHIA, PA. ; CHICAGO, ILL. ; ST. LOUIS, MO 



o 



H D 184 









o v 








































h, 



* "%u 









«o # • * °* •> 












*& 



»* 









A 



31 • >&* I 



4 Q. 



O 



DOBBS BROS. INC. 






t, J 




*W 




